


Mortal Kombat: Dishonored

by SolidSnakePlissken



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: Death, Edenia (Mortal Kombat), F/F, F/M, Fighting, Gore, Hope, Kitana(Mortal Kombat), Liu Kang - Freeform, M/M, Man Against The World, Martial Arts, Mortal Kombat, Netherrealm (Mortal Kombat), Pain, Raiden - Freeform, Rain(Mortal Kombat), Redemption, Sadness, Sub Zero - Freeform, Training, hero’s journey, jade - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:15:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24746671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolidSnakePlissken/pseuds/SolidSnakePlissken
Summary: The third work in the MK verse,Rain’s journey to train and defeat Liu Kang to save his friends and of course his love, Kitana. Story of redemption, sadness and triumph
Relationships: Erron Black/Skarlet, Kung Jin/Kai, Liu Kang/Kitana, Mileena/Tanya (Mortal Kombat)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Mortal Kombat: Dishonored**

**By Solid Snake Plissken**

**Prologue**

It’s been a hard 26 years for Rain, the deaths of Mileena and Tanya left him without friends, his traitorous actions in the past made him into an enemy of the forces of light. Rain was truly alone now, he did give Mileena and Tanya a proper burial, they loved each other and he knows wherever they are now, that they are happy together. But he isn’t happy, his past still haunts him and more importantly, Kitana, the woman he loves turned into a revenant and is now ruling the Netherrealm with a revenant Liu Kang. Normally he would be jealous, he was jealous in fact when Kitana fell in love with Liu Kang during the Shao Kahn era but times were different now, the realms were different, he was different. Rain knew he had one shot at doing this right, he just needed to start the same way he learned, the way he became strong, his rival, his arch nemesis, the former champion of Mortal Kombat and the champion of Kitana’s heart, Liu Kang. He made a deal to get out of Outworld and begin his journey, he changed his outfit to a more suitable outfit, his royal attire back from Edenia, something he hasn’t worn in years. Rain cut his ponytail off and packed his things and headed to Earthrealm to find the ones that can help him.


	2. Thunderstorm

**Chapter 1: Thunderstorm**

Rain did his research to find this place, this tall tower dedicated to only one man, the god of Thunder himself, Raiden. Ever since the defeat of Shinnok and Quan Chi, Raiden isolated himself to be able to let go of his past. No one has made contact with him, not even the Special Forces. Rain was kinda nervous and afraid of Raiden’s response to him, but he needed to do this, do this for Kitana and himself, he went up the tower until he got to the pillar that the monks were praying to, Rain approached the monks, 

“Excuse me, sorry I don’t mean to disturb your praying but I would like an audience with Lord Raiden.” Suddenly, Thunder and lightning was heard and none other than Raiden appeared behind him,

“You never called anyone Lord, what’s the special occasion Rain?” Rain bowed to Raiden,

“Lord Raiden, I wish for you to train me.” Raiden looked confused and was distrusting of Rain,

“Why should I Rain? You don’t have a good history with loyalty.” Rain looked at him with his life deprived eyes,

“I don’t do this for myself, I don’t care what happens to my life, all I care is for her, I want to free Kitana from being a revenant and defeat Liu Kang.” Raiden was a little distrusting but if Rain was telling the truth, he could help them. Raiden sighed a bit before saying,

“Rise Rain.” Rain got up as Raiden ordered,

“Rain, why seek me? You could’ve asked anyone to train you but you asked me, why?”

“You are the only one who can help me since you know what I am.” Raiden nodded,

“Walk with me Rain.” Rain nodded and followed Raiden as he walked,

“Yes I do know that you are a son of Argus, which makes you a demigod, but being trained by me won’t be enough to defeat Liu Kang. You need to match his newly found Netherrealm power and skill to rival his.” Rain looked at Raiden,

“So what should I do, Lord Raiden?” Raiden stopped and so did Rain,

“First I will teach you how to master your powers of lightning and channel your powers into your fighting. You have some experience with it but you are still a demigod who is more skilled with liquids.”

“What else, Lord Raiden?”

“Secondly you need to rival him in skill so you shall be trained by Liu Kang and Kung Lao’s Master, Bo Rai Cho. He will help you adapt new techniques and styles into your own to rival Liu Kang.” 

“Yes Lord Raiden, and what’s my final task?” Raiden went inside with Rain and walked into the Jinsei Chamber, he walked with Rain to a part in the chamber which showed wall carvings.

“The Elder Gods carved this, it fortolled a prophecy. Centuries ago, Delia, your father’s wife saw a vision of events to come and eventually Armageddon, so your father pleaded to the Elder Gods for a chance to stop this. They agreed and therefore the Elder Gods helped Delia and Argus to create Blaze and his power was to be used to stop Armageddon. As a result, Argus sealed away his sons, Taven and Daegon, they would awake and use the power.”

“What are you getting at Lord Raiden?”

“The power of Blaze can only be used by a son of Argus. Two decades ago I had visions of myself, the future and Armageddon, Shao Kahn and myself were the last ones standing, we fought to the death for this power and it didn’t work for any of us. Before the last of my life faded I sent visions to my past self to help fix things but instead I caused everything that has happened which is a sin I would have to live with. My point being, you can use this power to defeat Liu Kang, if you defeat Blaze your powers will reach its true potential. From there, I can teach you how to use it like a god, do all this and you will defeat Liu Kang and save those who died as a result of my actions.” Rain was speechless, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for this, but for Kitana, for the thought of bringing back Sindel, Mileena, Jade and Tanya, he was willing to do it,

“I understand, so where do we begin Lord Raiden.” Raiden for the first time in a while smiled, he hasn’t smiled since Liu Kang and the others died because of his actions, he didn’t even smile when Cassie Cage beat Shinnok two year ago. He smiled at the thought that this could be his chance, his chance of redemption.


	3. Totems of the Past

**Chapter 2: Totems of the Past**

Raiden began training Rain, at first he was rough to handle due to the lack of experience of handling lightning. But Rain was determined to master it, despite this being the hardest training he ever had, his heart wasn’t going to give in. Raiden taught him how to control his elements, control the storms and the lightning, to charge it into himself. He also taught Rain how to channel his water powers in the strangest of places, to channel it from life itself and even channel it from the air around him. It was a few months into Rain’s training and Raiden noticed something about Rain, he never changed his clothes. It was formal yes, but Rain would sweat a lot and still wouldn’t take it off, not even his mask. So once the clothes really began to smell, he gave Rain a black and purple sleeveless gi with Raiden’s symbol on the back,

“What’s this Lord Raiden?”

“Your clothes are starting to smell, I can have the monks wash it for you.” Rain was a bit nervous of changing clothes, he began shaking a bit and grabbing his arm,

“It’s fine Lord Raiden, I’m fine with these.” Raiden put the clothes aside and sat,

“What’s wrong Rain?”

“What?”

“Your trembling, you've never trembled like this before, what’s wrong?” Rain sighed and rolled up his right sleeve, which showed his right arm heavily scarred with lashes, slashes and burns. Raiden was stunned by this, Rain took his long sleeve off and Raiden saw Rain’s heavily scarred body, scarred with slashes, burns, cuts and lashes,

“By the Elder Gods...Rain what happened to you?” Rain removed his mask to show a ear to ear scar on his face,

“Shao Kahn…he had plots for Kitana, he was going to brainwash her so he can use her against Liu Kang, have me have a relationship with her while she was brainwashed, like a doll. I was against this and rebelled against this, for this he had me be tortured...tortured over and over again. Called it a proper punishment for a traitor…” Raiden was shocked but angry, Rain did betray the resistance so it was karmatic but it was too far, Shao Kahn victimized him for rebelling. 

“Why did you rebel? I always thought you would be fine with that and you would have Kitana, why?”

“I’m a man not a monster, besides I made a promise…a promise to Kitana….” Now Raiden was more confused,

“What promise?” Rain sat down and leaned on a wall,

“I was close to her, not lovers but I guess she only saw me as a friend. I wanted to show her that I could be more to her than that, but I never took the chance to express my real feelings towards her, but I told her this, that I would always protect her no matter what. So I suffered and when I finally broke out after all that horrendous torture, I saw her fall in love, fall in love with him.” 

“Liu Kang?” Raiden asked,

“Yes...and I cried Lord Raiden, I cried because of it, I cried harder when I learned from Mileena that she died and became Quan Chi’s puppet. From there I sided with Mileena because I saw her as a little sister, a reminder of Kitana and I wanted to protect her, to see her rule and be empress of Outworld along with her beloved Tanya. But because of Kotal Kahn, and your Earthrealmers that dream never came true and I failed to protect her again.” Raiden nodded, he understood Rain a bit more and wanted to help him succeed,

“Rain…you will fulfill that promise to her, you will bring them back, I promise you. You are a strong man, and forgive me for not being able to see that Shao Kahn would do that to you, but I won’t let anyone down anymore. I swear that I’ll help you, and together we can save them all, do not think of your scars as how you got them, but instead think of them as the promise. The promise you kept for so long, the promise that you will fulfill.” Rain smiled and bowed, he got the clothes and went to change into them, he then came back and put the mask on,

“Are you ready for more training?”

“Yes Lord Raiden.” He replied, he assumed his stance and Raiden assumed his and then they began to spar. Rain kept up with his training and a few months later, Rain completed his training, Raiden told him to meet him at the Jinsei Chamber in the morning. Rain entered in his training gear and saw Raiden meditating in the Jinsei, he noticed Rain and stopped his meditation, 

“Rain, my pupil, you have learned well these past few months. You are close to completing your journey, but to begin the quest for Blaze, there are some things you must learn.”

“What is it lord Raiden?” Raiden walked towards Rain, the door opened behind him and it was none other than Kenshi,

“Greetings Lord Raiden and Rain.”

“I invited Kenshi since he has some information that can help you with your quest.” Rain nodded and turned to Kenshi,

“I heard that you have been looking for the power of Blaze so it seems the Red Dragon Clan are also after the power too. Years ago my wife was murdered by the Red Dragon, I spent years hunting for them only to find out the name of the leader. The leader is your half brother, Daegon. From what Lord Raiden told me about the power, the Red Dragon must be stopped before this comes true.” Rain looked at Kenshi a bit off, he was most likely going to ask him to help them, but Rain didn’t want that,

“I’m sorry Kenshi, and my condolences to your wife but...I spent years living with my inner demons, if I’m going to stop the Red Dragon and Daegon my half brother, I must do it alone, but it can benefit you knowing that I stopped him, so please let me handle this.” Kenshi paused for a bit, at first hesitant but he understood Rain’s position in this, after all he was once like him,

“As long as it leads to the Red Dragon’s defeat, I’ll accept that. But you must be careful with the Red Dragon, from what I’ve seen they have far advanced technology, making them much more lethal than the Black Dragon ever was. But...there is a man who can help you, he was a former Red Dragon after all, he was there from the early days.” Rain looked confused on who this man was,

“Who is he?”

“It’s Erron Black.”


	4. The Red Dragon

**Chapter 3: The Red Dragon**

Raiden, Kenshi and Rain transported to Erron’s farm in the plains, ever since his secret immortality was outed he decided to live a peaceful life with Skarlet and become involved in helping both sides for Earthrealm and Outworld, Rain looked around and it was quite peaceful, Raiden walked to the front porch and knocked on the door,

“Yea, gimme a sec!” A voiced said, Erron opened the door, he was wearing black jeans, black work boots a plaid button down shirt and a duster,

“Oh howdy Raiden, Kenshi and Rain.”

“Greetings Erron, we require your assistance.”

“Oh no, you know I’m done with that life.” 

“You aren’t doing anything Black.” Kenshi said,

“You are just here to help us about the Red Dragon.” Erron relaxed a bit, 

“Well come on in, Skarlet just finished making some beef stew.” Rain and the group came inside and sat by the table, Skarlet was wearing some human clothes and finished serving Erron, herself, Rain, Kenshi and Raiden, the group started eating then Erron broke the ice,

“So whatcha need my help with?” 

“Rain and Kenshi are tasked to take down the Red Dragon, we need your help since you know more about them than anyone.” Raiden answers, Erron nods,

“Well the Red Dragon has been booming from what I heard, looks like the death of Mavado didn’t affect them as much but the destruction of the Black Dragon helped them a bunch. Daegon has been making more moves in temples here in Earthrealm. Underground expeditions, from what some of the people tell me, Daegon is putting more effort into this.”

“It could be the power of Blaze he’s looking for.” Rain added on,

“I don’t know where these temples are but I do know where you can find the Red Dragon.”

“Where?!” Kenshi exclaimed,

“Calm your horses Kenshi, it’s in the Krimson Mountains. It’s heavily guarded so prepare yourselves for some hell.” The men all nod, Raiden and Kenshi puts their plates in the sink and wash them,

“Rain, we will be waiting outside when you're done.” Raiden said, Rain nodded and continued eating, Erron walked to the fridge and got two beers,

“Rain, come on out back with me for a sec.” Rain nodded and put his plate aside, Erron gave him a beer and cracked both open.

“So why are you doin this Rain?”

“Guess I get that question a lot don't I? I’m doing this for my love Kitana, Sindel, Jade, Mileena and Tanya. To bring them back to life.”

“So you doin this for the girl you love, it’s always a girl ain’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Love and loss drove me to not experiencing things. Let me ask you this, do you think Kitana will love you after you save her?” Erron asked as he drank his beer,

“Possibly…” Rain replied as he drank his, Erron sighed,

“And what makes you think that, how are you sure that she’ll love you...or are you planning to kill Liu Kang?” Rain stayed quiet for a bit, wasn’t sure how to respond,

“I...I don’t know...I’ve thought of it but I’m not sure yet...maybe?”

“It’s a yes or no question, Rain.”

“Well bloody hell, I’m not sure, yes maybe!” Erron shook his head,

“Let me give you a life lesson. Rain, love can be your biggest motivation but it can also be a hell of a burden. I cut myself off from people who were getting too close to me, one I had a daughter with, the other who just saw me as not wanting to be open. I spent life holding onto the memories of my wife, Maggie Jackson, so much so that I had a bullet necklace of our initials on it. But when I went after her great great great great grandnephew, I fired that last shot at him, I used the bullet from the necklace, my magic bullet.”

“I don’t quite understand why you are telling me this?”

“Because you can either live your life with a burden, with a hopeless dream and endless cycle of never getting close. Or you can load up that bullet with everything you got and shoot it away. In life, you don’t get your happy ending, you don’t get it sometimes, sometimes you just get by, and it was alright because the happy ending, you’ll know it once you feel it in your heart. Also try to let go of anything that reminds you of her, it will be easier.” Erron finished his statement along with his beer, Rain wasn’t sure how to react to this, he did have a point, Rain finished his beer and handed it to Erron. He went to the front porch where the other two were waiting,

“Are you ready Rain?”

“Yes Lord Raiden.”

“Good, once we get back we’ll strategize.” The men both nod, Erron and Skarlet both walk to the front porch, with Erron wrapping an arm around Skarlet. Both waved goodbye at the men,

“Goodbye you three, visit us sometime on a better occasion.” Skarlet said, the men waved and Raiden teleported with the other two to the Sky Temple. The men walked into the Jinsei Chamber,

“So what shall we do now Lord Raiden?” Kenshi asked,

“We are gonna plan this out, I’ll transport Rain at nightfall, Rain will sneak into the base, kill the men, then Daegon, then see where the power of Blaze is.” The men nod in agreement,

“I’ll try to organize a squadron behind just in case things go south Rain.” Kenshi said, Rain nodded, the men agreed to the plan and it was all set. Rain was resting for the mission tomorrow when he heard a knock at the door. Rain opened it and it was Raiden,

“Lord Raiden, what’s going on?”

“I wanted to ask you a question Rain, what were you and Erron Black talking about?”

“He was asking...if I was going to kill Liu Kang…”

“You aren’t, right?” Rain didn’t answer and looked down,

“You aren’t, right?” Raiden asked,

“Possibly?” Raiden got upset,

“I did not train you for you to kill him, I did not let you learn about this power so you can kill him!” Raiden said as thunder struck,

“Lord Raiden please calm down, I’m not sure if I want to.” Raiden began calming down,

“Why did the thought cross your mind?”

“Because...it might let me have Kitana…”

“Was Black encouraging you?”

“No, he was asking me the same thing you are going to ask.”

“I see...Rain, understand this ultimatum, what will get you what you actually need, Liu Kang’s death? Or saving him?” Raiden said as he walked off, Rain sighed and sat on the bed, he wasn’t sure what to do, was he going to go through with it? He just drifted back to sleep only thinking about tomorrow.


	5. The Den of the Dragon

**Chapter 4: The Den of the Dragon**

Rain was transported to the Red Dragon Base, he saw two guards standing there and took them out silently, once he was inside, he slowly moved to make sure he wasn’t caught. Suddenly he stopped, two men were walking by with rifles, he lured them with water and snapped their necks by forming it into a rope. Rain kept moving slowly till he reached a bridge where he heard a loud roar,

“What the hell?” Rain was curious on the roar, so he followed where the noise was coming from, suddenly a laser was fired Rain dodged the laser and turns to see who it was, 

“You sneaking into our base was a fatal mistake, Rain.” 

“And you are?”

“Daegon’s right hand man, Hsu Hao.”

“Nice to see Kano’s legacy be carried by someone stupider.” Hsu Hao got mad and assumed a fighting stance, so did Rain, Hsu Hao charged at Rain only for Rain to flip up and strike Hsu Hao with lightning hands and stun Hao, Rain then took a knife out and placed it on Hao’s throat,

“You make a move and I’ll cut your throat and end your worthless life, now tell me where Daegon is and what was that loud roar?” Hao sighed,

“There’s a Dragon here, Daegon’s guardian dragon assigned by Argus named Caro. Daegon uses him to transport the men wherever they need to be.”

“Lead me to him.” Hao leads Rain to the area where Caro is being held, Rain binds Hao with water, he approaches Caro,

“Are you..Caro?”

“A child of Argus? Hm that is not surprising. What is your name Son of Argus?”

“Rain.”

“Greetings Rain, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“How long has Daegon kept you here?”

“I’ve...I’ve lost count, Daegon has abused me, used me for his idiotic quest.”

“Does the quest involve the power of Blaze?” Suddenly, he heard a slow clapping coming from the distance,

“Ah a bastard child involving himself in a quest that he doesn’t belong in.” Rain turned around and saw Daegon, smugly smirking,

“Which one of his whores mothered you? Was it the poor one, or that one aristocrat, or that one prisoner?”

“Shut up…”

“Oh what’s wrong? Can’t handle the truth? Our father would have sex with a cow and impregnate it if he wanted to. I was made to be in his family unlike you bastard. I know you are after the power of Blaze but I guess I can have a nice warm up against you before I fight him.” Daegon said as he took out his drakeswords, Rain assumed his position, he was hoping Raiden’s training paid off since Rain hadn’t been in a fight for a while. This was going to be one hellacious fight.


	6. Numb

**Chapter 5: Numb**

Daegon charged at Rain to go for a stab but Rain countered and disarmed Daegon but Daegon sweep kicked Rain, Daegon went for another stab but Rain caught the swords, he started generating lightning through his hands and shattered them. Rain kicked Daegon’s knee and tripped him, Rain rolled back up and Daegon got up, Daegon smirked and assumed a fighting stance. Rain threw a punch but Daegon countered and kicked Rain on the ribs then punched his gut, Rain spat some blood out before Daegon elbowed his jaw knocking him back. Rain shot a water beam that Daegon dodged with ease,

“Missed!”

“Did I?” Rain said with a smirk, the water formed into a whip and Rain moved it towards Daegon like a whip, Daegon tried dodging the water whip attacks but got a few lashes, Daegon formed a firearm shield, which blocked the water,

“You like that? I learned that from the countless battles with Hanzo Hasashi.” 

“Asshole…”

“Oh learned something from Earthrealmers?” Rain charged and threw two punches then a roundhouse kick which Daegon caught and kicked Rain’s chest, Rain backs up but Daegon continues the assault, punches and kicks, Daegon charges a flame fist but Rain jumped and flipped in the air, hanging upside down, he charged lightning into his hands, once he got close he hit Daegon in both sides of his face with the back of his fists then with force pressed both his fists into the temples, then transferred the lightning from his fists into his right knee and knead Daegon in the face, sending Daegon back. Rain landed and ran to Daegon, charging lightning into his right hand ready to punch Daegon in the gut but Daegon caught it and punched Rain’s face then broke his leg, after that tossed Rain over his shoulder and broke his right arm,

“I see now, you can only transfer or use that lightning nonsense in one part of your body, you need to concentrate too.” Daegon bent Rain’s right arm to the side and started to beat Rain, Rain’s face was getting bloody and messed up. Daegon ended the assault by booting Rain’s face onto a nearby wall, Daegon cleaned off the blood and walked off, 

“C’mon is that it?”

“What?!”

“You went on and on about how a bastard child I am, well guess what? This bastard child is still standing, so c’mon Daegon, keep trying.” Rain got up slowly, Rain walked to Daegon, not caring that his arm and leg was broken. Daegon was shocked that he’s still standing, Daegon punches Rain’s chest, he kept punching it till the ribs broke which he saw once Rain spat blood out,

“I know for a fact I’ve broken multiple of your ribs?!”

“Congratulations, you want a cookie?” Rain charged lightning into his broken right arm and whacked Daegon with it,

“You probably broke multiple of my bones, but I’ve come close to death multiple times, this pain means nothing. So Daegon let me ask you, do you have something that would make me feel actual pain again?” Daegon charged at Rain but that’s what Rain wanted, Rain boosted in the air with water from his feet once Daegon was close, then wrapped his broken arm around Daegon’s neck, he began choking Daegon by pushing the broken arm with his other hand, Rain arched his back to tighten the chokehold, Daegon was gasping for air punching Rain with no avail, Rain then charged his broken arm with lightning and began letting it run through it so Daegon’s head started getting shocked and electrocuted, Rain knew the longer he held Daegon in that hold he would have his brain blown into bits, so he held it, he leaned on the broken leg, he felt no pain in his arm or leg, the torture strengthened his durability to the point where pain means nothing. He felt Daegon’s head blow up to bits and his body fall down, a bunch of chunks of his head were spread all over the ground, Rain sighed in relief, he started to form two casts, one for his arm and one for his leg, Rain chuckled a bit,

“Hehe...lucky water cast, never fails.” Rain limps to the computer, he wasn’t sure how to work it but he knows someone else who can,

“Hao…”

“Yes?”

“Come here...and free Caro…”

“Are you insane?!”

“I’ll drown you with your...own saliva if you don’t...In the position you’re in right now...you’ll die quickly…” Hao knew his back was up against the wall so he just went along with it, Rain let the water bind go and Hao entered the code to free Caro, the restraints holding him opened and Caro sighed in relief,

“Thank you Rain. Here,” Caro breathed out a strange white aura that helped heal Rain’s body, his arm and leg started to heal and his body was back to 100%. Rain smiled and was surprised to see,

“My mother used to tell me myths about the Ancient Edenian Dragons and their magic, I thought I’d never see one since Kahn slayed the last of the dragons.”

“Not entirely true.” Caro said,

“What are you talking about?”

“When Delia saw the visions of the events, after she sealed Daegon and your half brother Taven, her visions disappeared, it faded slowly till all she saw was Raiden battling Shao Kahn on top of the Pyramid.” Then it clicked in Rain’s head,

“Wait, Lord Raiden’s visions…” Caro seemed confused,

“What do you mean Raiden’s visions?”

“Raiden told me that he had visions of events that were going to come because his future counterpart sent visions to him about it, they all were leading to Armageddon.” Caro was shocked by this but he understood it now,

“I see now, Raiden’s change in the past caused the events to change, because of that Daegon woke up early due to my mistake of misreading the signal.”

“You caused Daegon to be this way?”

“Not exactly, when he learned about the quest he killed Delia and Argus, then he searched for Taven and killed him...he made me kill my twin brother Orin.” Hao never heard the dragon’s story before but felt bad for him, Rain too felt bad for Caro,

“I’m sorry you were forced to do that Caro.” Rain said,

“In the last bit of life he had he fused himself to me. For centuries Daegon kept me locked up and using me for his gain, but now I am free, free from his control and this cage.”

“Control?” Rain asked

“Dragons can be bound to mortals, demigods or even gods themselves. With Daegon dead, I’m free from his bound as that is when a Dragon can be free.” Rain pauses and came up with an idea,

“Well you can be bound to me, I’m not Daegon and you can have your freedom with ease.” Caro nodded, 

“Very well, I shall be bound to you. I just need to speak the ritual words in my native language.” Rain nodded, Caro breathed a red aura onto Rain which made him levitate, the aura slowly started changing purple and so did Caro’s scale with some lines of gold,

“<Elder Gods, slayers of the One Being, judges of life and existence here thy words! I, Caro of the Edenian Twin Dragons swear my life and loyalty to the Son of Argus Rain! I swear to guard him with my life and obey his command! I swear to protect his mind if he were to stray down the wrong path! I swear to be there when he requests, slay those he wants to slay and serve to what he says! Do the Elder Gods accept this Ritual of Dragon Bonding?>” a loud boom roared through the sky,

“<The Elder Gods have spoken, the request has been accepted! I, Caro of the Edenian Twin Dragons belong to you Rain, Son of Argus.” Rain felt a weird stinging and irritation behind his back, it began glowing and something was covering some scars, it was a tattoo of Caro running through his back. Rain slowly came down and was surprised for going through that ritual,

“I am your now Rain. If you don’t mind, I would like to destroy this entire base and everyone in it and send it to the Netherrealm.” Rain nodded and agreed to let him do it, Caro then turned to Hsu Hao,

“Hsu Hao, you are a good person, with a good heart, use it to make yourself a better life, serve your time for your crimes and come out a better man.” Hao nodded and bowed to the dragon, 

“Very well, Rain I shall transport you wherever you need to go, Hao I’ll transport you to the Special Forces base to turn yourself in.” 

“Wait Caro.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Blaze is resting?” Caro paused and remembered,

“Botan Jungle, his resting ground should be at your father’s temple.” 

“Thank you Caro.” Hao turned to Rain,

“I bid you good luck in your quest Rain, may you find what you need.”

“Same goes to you Hsu Hao.” Rain and Hsu Hao bowed to each other and both were transported to their locations, while Caro went on a rampage, destroying everything that is owned by the Red Dragon. Meanwhile in the Sky Temple, Raiden was meditating when he heard a strange noise behind him, it was Rain who just arrived, Raiden came and approached Rain,

“Well?”

“Daegon has been slayed, Lord Raiden. Caro, his former dragon became bound to me and he told me where Blaze was resting.”

“I figured I heard the Elder Gods answer, where is Blaze resting?”

“My father’s temple in the Botan Jungle.” Rain said, Raiden smiled because he knew he was close to saving the fallen, he still wasn’t sure if Rain was going to kill Liu Kang but it’s a fear that he has to accept might happen,

“Very well Rain, pack your things and get some rest, you will need it as for tomorrow you will begin your training with Bo Rai Cho.” Rain smiled and bowed to Raiden, he walked off to go get some rest, he was a few steps away to save the dead and those he cares about but more importantly, he felt close to being free of his nightmares.


	7. Nightmares

**Chapter 6: Nightmares**

It was around 2:00 in the morning and Rain couldn’t sleep, he felt uncomfortable and decided to go for a walk, he put on his pants from his gi and wandered outside the Sky Temple, he hopped over the railing and sat on the edge. It was a bright night, the stars were out and Rain felt at peace looking up,

“The stars are a peaceful sight indeed, Rain.” Raiden said, Rain turned around and saw him, 

“Sorry Lord Raiden, I didn’t mean to make you worry.” 

“It’s fine, me and my brother used to look at the stars when we were young.” Raiden joined Rain and sat next to him,

“Fujin loves looking at the sky, it makes him relax, he was always a peaceful person, quite in tune with life, nature and virtue.”

“What happened to him?” Rain asked, Raiden sighed,

“He’s not dead if you're wondering, we don’t talk as often as we used to. Ever since Liu Kang and the other’s deaths I...I spiraled down.”

“Gods can get addictions?”

“Sadly, even Gods aren’t immune to moral sins. I fell into deep alcoholism, I couldn’t live with myself for two decades, it was due to that addiction that he cut off ties with me and only talked to me if it came to duties from the Elder Gods.”

“How long has it been since you drank alcohol?”

“It’s been a few months, I’ll be honest Rain, you helped me want to break my addiction. Seeing how you are determined to train, determined to better yourself, it inspired me to overcome my addiction. The student has helped the master be better as well.” Rain smiled at that, he thought he would never inspire people, yet alone a God,

“I hope things work out between you and your brother Lord Raiden.”

“Thank you, and what’s keeping you up this late at night?”

“I don’t sleep comfortably at night, I have nightmares about...things…” Rain said scratching his arm,

“Does it involve the torture?”

“Yes...along with my past.”

“Well, redemption can be seeked through confession.” Rain nodded, he sighed,

“Well, it’s quite a lot. My mother had me when she was young, she was a young adult when I was born, growing up she used to tell me I was destined to be a prince because she used to be a princess back before Kahn’s invasion. When she died, I became obsessed with this idea and I guess that’s how me and Tanya became good friends. So much so she helped me betray the rebellion and caused...so many deaths. All for power…” Rain said with a depressed look, Raiden patted him in the back,

“There there Rain, you have a sinful past but this path you are walking on right now will lead to your redemption. You and I are both on the same path, seeking the same gift and we will both achieve it.” Rain smiled and nodded, he never really has had a father figure but he probably can call Raiden that. Rain went back to sleep, for once he had good sleep and didn’t have a nightmare after years.


	8. Way of the Lotus

**Chapter 7: Way of The Lotus**

Rain woke up early to get ready for the trip, he noticed that his hair was growing back a bit, some strands were hanging down to the middle of his neck. He shrugged it off and put on his training gi and mask along with packing his old clothes which got sewn up after his fight with Daegon. Raiden was waiting outside for Rain,

“Ah Rain, good morning, I called someone to help journey with us to the Wu Shi Academy.” The winds suddenly started to swirl around Raiden and Rain, then a figure appeared,

“Greetings Rain...brother.” He said,

“Hello Fujin…” Raiden said awkwardly,

“Greetings Lord Fujin, it’s a pleasure to meet you, you will be accompanying us on our journey?”

“Yes, despite my wife being pregnant and me having to hire someone to watch her, I came the moment my brother visited and surprisingly wasn’t intoxicated.”

“Who did you hire to watch your wife?” Raiden asked,

“Cetrion.” 

“Oh…” Raiden said very softly, Rain noticed Raiden’s shift of tone but he decided not to question it, 

“So...shall we be on our way?” Fujin asked, Raiden nodded and opened a portal, they all entered to see the Wu Shi Academy, along with seeing a bunch of new recruits being trained, praying and recruits sparring with each other. Raiden guided them to the center temple where two people were waiting for them, they approached Raiden and Fujin, and bowed,

“Lord Raiden, Lord Fujin, welcome.”

“Hello Kung Jin, congratulations on your bethodral to Kai.” Jin smiles and holds Kai’s hand,

“You two got married? Congratulations you two.” Fujin said with a smile,

“Thank you both.” Kai replies blushing lightly,

“I believe you know this man, this is Rain, he’s my new pupil and he came here to train with Bo Rai Cho.”

“Oh, didn’t D’Vorah kick your ass?”

“Jin, language.” Kai said,

“Oh stop being a pussy.” Rain got annoyed a bit at the comment,

“Didn’t Mileena beat you?” 

“I like him.” Jin said,

“Kai, where is Bo Rai Cho?” Raiden asked,

“Mountain top, meditating.” 

“I see. Well, show Rain around the academy. Me and Fujin will go to see Bo Rai Cho.” Kai nodded and Raiden and Fujin walked off, 

“Come Rain.” Kai said, Kung Jin and Kai walked outside while Rain followed them,

“So how did you two meet?” Rain asked,

“Well Kai was one of Liu Kang’s students back when he was doing his instructor exam, we met there before I ran off. Kai stayed to keep the White Lotus together along with helping Bo Rai Cho rebuild after the deaths of the many masters, Liu Kang and my cousin. When I came back to help, one thing led to the other and after a year or so together we got married.” Rain nodded,

“Ah, you guys remind me of Mileena and Tanya.”

“I thought Mileena was your girl?” Jin stated, Rain sighed,

“No, just because we wear similar color clothing doesn’t mean we were together. Besides, she wore pink, I wore violet.”

“What’s the difference?” Kung Jin said as he rolled his eyes,

“One is mixed with blue, the other is mixed white.” Kung Jin facepalmed,

“Kai, sweetie, remember when I explained what sarcasm is?”

“Oh right sorry.” Kai said, 

“What about you Rain?” Kai asked,

“What about me?” 

“Are you interested in anyone?” Rain paused, he didn’t want to blatantly say who it was but he didn’t want to be dishonest either,

“I am…”

“Well, spill man, who?” Kung Jin asked,

“I’d rather not say who…”

“Respectable.” Kai said,

“Another question, why do you want to train with Bo Rai Cho?” Kung Jin asked,

“His training is going to help me defeat Blaze, from there I will continue my training to defeat Liu Kang and save the revenants.” Rain explained,

“And Liu Kang?” Kai said, curiously, Rain stayed quiet, this concerned Kai and Kung Jin,

“You will save Liu Kang too right?”

“I haven’t decided yet…” Rain asked,

“You have to save Liu Kang, those actions he’s committed, it’s not him, he’s been corrupted by the dark magic.” Kung Jin nodded,

“Despite all the shit he’s put us through he’s still the same Liu Kang down there, it’s just hard to reach now.” Rain stayed speechless, he just walked off and walked into the shrine for Kung Lao and Liu Kang, many candles were lit to honor them. Rain stared at the Liu Kang and Kung Lao statues on the wall, he thought to himself, “What does Kitana see in him?” wondering what made him better, wondering what would happen if he said something, maybe nothing will change, maybe it’s just his delusions of love getting to him. Rain grabbed something out of his pocket, it was a handkerchief, a purple one, it looked dusty, he squeezed it tightly as he looked at the Liu Kang statue,

“Is that supposed to mean something Rain?” Someone said from behind, Rain turned around and it was Fujin,

“Oh Lord Fujin, no it’s nothing…”

“It seems like something, you are tightening your grip on it so it must be important to you.”

“It’s a...handkerchief, back when Kahn took me and Tanya in, we didn’t really have friends but Kitana helped both of us get out of our shells and gave us gifts, she said the reason I got this was because I used to sweat a lot during battle so it was to help me.”

“And you held it on as a sign for your burning love for her?”

“Yes.” Fujin lightly chuckled,

“What?”

“You are making quite the fool out of yourself Rain.”

“What?”

“Well, you are holding on to a totem of your love for her, you are considering killing someone who needs saving instead of death and more importantly you are primarily thinking about what you want.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying the problem with you, the problem that you faced all your life is that you always thought of taking what you want, you take it and you suffer the consequences of taking it. You right now, you want to take someone’s happiness away to make yourself happy. Just know this Rain, you can kill Liu Kang and take Kitana as your wife but at the end of it all, you’ll never get what you truly need, what you truly deserve. Life doesn’t hand you what you want, it helps you go and get what you need instead.” Rain wasn’t sure how to respond, he didn’t want to respond because he knew Fujin was right, Fujin walked out and Rain followed him, Raiden approached the two,

“Ah you found him, good, Bo Rai Cho will be training you for the next month till me and Fujin find the exact location of Blaze’s Temple in the Botan.” Rain nodded and followed Raiden to the mountain, once they made it to the top, Bo Rai Cho was waiting there, Rain then covered his nose due to the strong smell of alcohol, Raiden chuckled,

“You’ll get used to it.” Raiden said

“Liu Kang and Kung Lao’s master? This is Bo Rai Cho?!” Rain said surprised, Bo then jumped up and went for a kick, Rain countered the kick and went for a punch but Bo Rai Cho countered and hit multiple strikes on Rain’s ribs causing him to be knocked down, Fujin walked to Rain,

“Do you have any, how do the Earthrealmers say it, more smartass remarks?” Fujin said with a smug smirk, Rain got up and bowed to Bo Rai Cho,

“Teach me!” Rain said, Bo Rai Cho laughed,

“Ah you remind me of Kung Lao or Jin, or was it Liu Kang, well one of them when they first started training, they were confused about me so I gave them the beating of a lifetime.” Bo drank some more liquor and burped, Bo then handed Rain a weird prayer beads bracelet that had a different color for each bead,

“What’s this for?”

“You are learning how to fight in the Way of the Lotus. See you have all this power but no skill or creativity, it’s like having a big penis but not knowing how to use it properly. You are starting well but do not know how to do things. This bracelet was forged by the Elder Gods, they nullify all powers, so the fighter relies on their skill. What makes the best warriors is that not only are they powerful but they are also skilled in their art.” Rain nodded and put the bracelet on, it began glowing so the nullification already began, 

“We will see you soon, may the Elder Gods watch over you.” Raiden said, Rain bowed and Raiden and Fujin disappeared, Bo then pointed at two trees,

“Those are shit and piss trees, that’s where you do your business, if I see sperm I’ll kill you.” 

“Where do I sleep?” Rain asked, Bo pointed to the dirty mat on the floor,

“Don’t worry, there are no bugs here.” Bo tossed Rain a bag,

“What’s this?” Rain asked,

“Fresh Training Gear, to understand the Way of the Lotus you must be able to remove all weight, so put those on in the changing rock.” Rain nodded and ran to the rock, he changed out of his gear and came back wearing black shorts and boxing tape wrapped around his feet and hands. Bo had another drink and burped,

“Ok, rest for now Rain for tomorrow we will start training.” Rain nodded and laid on the mat, looking at the peaceful stars and slowly falling asleep, getting ready to begin the next step in his journey.


	9. The Drunken Awakening

**Chapter 8: The Drunken Awakening**

Rain woke up bright and early for his training, he did his business behind the shit and piss trees and approached Bo Rai Cho who was meditating,

“So sensei, what’s my lesson?”

“Step one sit.” Rain sat down,

“Next, what kind of drink do you want?” Rain was confused,

“What?!”

“Drink, alcohol, liquor, what do you want plain beer? Hot whisky? Bourbon? Gin and Tonic?”

“Forgive me what does this have to do with training?” Bo Rai Cho sighed,

“That’s the usual response I get, trust me, it will come to you through time, so drink up.”

“Guess I’ll have this Vodka.” Rain said, Bo poured him a cup, he drank it and oh boy he felt it, it was a strong drink,

“Woo! That’s pretty...strong.” He said coughing a bit, Bo laughed,

“Trust me you’ll get used to it.” So they began drinking, eventually cups turned to whole bottles and both men became intoxicated deeply after a few hours,

“Now this...this is like...when I came in right…” Rain said slurring his words and slouching his back, Bo nodded drunkenly,

“Then Jade...Jade saw...and she hit me in the penis with the staff… see she thought I…was some random perverted person…” Bo started laughing like crazy and rolled back,

“Ah..did she apologize at least?”

“Nah….” Rain said laughing, “Mileena told me...she had a thing for me….like years ago…” Bo rolled up and took out a boom box and played The Secret Life of Arabia by David Bowie,

“Time...for fighting…” Rain laughed 

“We are...too intoxicated to...spar.”

“No...we are not...drunk enough.” Rain shrugged it off and stumbled as he got himself up, he assumed a drunken version of his stance and Bo assumed his, Bo threw a punch but Rain drunkenly countered, Bo threw more strikes which Rain blocked almost like a rag doll. Bo does a spinning jaw kick but Rain did a split and punched Bo in the gut then drunkenly did a cartwheel kick and then a drunken jumping spin kick, Bo stumbled back and rolled back up to charge at Rain but Bo then turned around and farted in Rain’s face,

“Ah...what the...hell?!”

“It’s a...fighht...expect everything...do things that...are unpredictable.” Rain smiled at that thought and instead he charged to Bo and tossed himself spinning and hitting Bo with a slap and loose kicks, then loosely sliding under Bo and popped up behind him, kicked his sides and then Bo threw an unexpected kick which Rain countered quickly, Bo cartwheeled away and stood in front of Rain, Rain chugged five more bottles of different alcohol and became more slurred and loose,

“Now you...found out the answer!” 

“Yuueeesss.” Rain said, Rain chugged more bottles, Rain began dancing weirdly and so did Bo Rai Cho, after a while of dancing he threw up and passed out. Rain woke up with a mean hangover, Bo was sitting there meditating, 

“Are..we done with the drinking.” Rain said, Bo quickly went to hit Rain but Rain caught it almost appearing like he stopped it without touching,

“You stopped a blade that is invisible to the naked eye.” Rain was shocked and surprised he did that,

“What was in those drinks?!” 

“An elixir mixed with the alcohol, it has no taste but it helps heighten your senses. A warrior in his prime must have all openings shut, that includes their senses.” Rain got up and sat in a meditation position,

“Meditate and concentrate your ears on a certain sound.” Rain nodded and did so, he slowly heard everything fade away till he could hear only a small bird flying by in the distance. Rain opened his eyes and realized it, 

“Huh, guess all that drinking really helped.” Bo stood up,

“Great, now to your form.” Rain got up and began training, Bo helped perfect Rain’s style along with mixing the various styles of the White Lotus into his own. One day, Rain was training himself on his form when Bo Rai Cho approached him,

“Rain, I have a new challenge for you.” Rain stopped himself and approached Bo,

“Yes Master?” Fujin then came in with a wooden cage made from logs,

“Lord Fujin?” Following him was Kai and Kung Jin,

“What’s going on?”

“We want to test your resilience so us four will hit the logs while you are in the squatting stance.” Rain nodded and entered the cage, they all began punching the logs and pushing it on Rain, Rain just sat there and took it, no visible sign of pain, nothing, Rain just sat there and let them keep hitting. They went at it for hours till eventually they all got tired,

“By the Elder Gods boy!” Fujin said

“Raiden said you were tough but goddamn.” Kung Jin added, Kai was just passed out, Bo slowly got up,

“Well...resilience, sure as hell resilient.” Rain got out and laughed it off. More weeks passed of training and mastering until the last night of training. Rain was exhausted and was looking forward to sleeping, but Bo Rai Cho had other plans, he was heating up some tea and gave some to Rain,

“Is this another alcohol test?”

“No this is tea, sit with me near the fire.” Rain got up and sat with Bo Rai Cho, he took a sip of the tea,

“So, you are doing this over a woman?”

“Yea?”

“Stupid.”

“What?”

“Have you ever fought Liu Kang?”

“Once...he quickly beat me when he went to save Kitana.” Bo sighed,

“It’s always love, something like that, what about yourself, instead of Kitana what are you fighting for yourself.” Rain paused for a while, he wasn’t sure how to answer but one came to mind,

“Redemption, redemption for those innocent Edenian lives that I caused to die. Redemption for being a traitor.” Bo nodded,

“Redemption is a long road but once you get it, you’ll feel it. As for your lady problems, I remember when Liu Kang first told me about Kitana. They just got back from the tournament and he said it was like seeing an angel in blue.”

“Amen to that.” Rain said with a sip,

“He was so determined to win her...guess he won her in a way.” Rain nodded sadly,

“Aye cheer up you big baby, you’ll find someone.”

“...no one like her, Bo...no one like her. She has a special kind of kindness...one relaxing, soothing, embracing.” Bo sighed,

“She may make you feel happy but she’s someone else’s happiness Rain, and Liu Kang makes her happy, you can’t steal that.” Rain nodded, he finished his tea and went to bed, he couldn’t sleep that well, he just stared up at the clear night sky, thinking about his feelings and what Bo Rai Cho said, slowly he drifted off to sleep since the stars helped ease his mind.


	10. The Phoenix

**Chapter 9: The Phoenix**

Raiden and Fujin arrived to pick up Rain, Rain got dressed in his regular clothes and got ready, he thanked Bo for his lessons, gave him back the bracelet and walked towards Raiden and Fujin,

“So I believe you found Blaze’s temple?” Rain asked,

“Yes, we will go with you there, are you ready Rain?”

“Yes I was trained for this.”

Raiden nodded and teleported him, Fujin and Rain to the entrance of Blaze’s Temple, it was a large pyramid with a Phoenix statue on top,

“This was quite the challenge to find, it appears that this temple is being sealed with a powerful type of magic that even Gods can’t find.” Rain nodded, he was kinda nervous, he never fought such a powerful person before, he wasn’t sure he was going to make it out alive, but that’s a risk he had to take. Rain began walking in but Raiden stopped him quickly,

“Rain...make it out alive.” Rain nodded and walked into the temple. Once he entered the door closed behind him, it was dim and dusty, some cobwebs were on the wall and some old paintings on the walls were scratched off. Rain grabbed a torch and walked slowly. Rain walked around and looked at the scratched paintings, he saw what looked like Argus and Delia sealing something in a tomb, the depiction of the Elder Gods in their dragon form and a warrior in bright orange armor. Rain made his way to the heart of the temple, he saw old Edenian language carvings on the walls, this temple has been here for millenniums, he also saw a large pedestal in the center of the heart, around it were paintings and carvings of a phoenix. Rain stood in the center and suddenly a panel came from the ground, it had an opening fitting for a hand, Rain tossed the torch aside and put his hand in, it got stabbed, Rain barely noticed until he felt blood coming out and removed his hand but the blood was drained in the pedestal. Suddenly the temple began to glow a bright orange and flames appeared on the empty torches, the temple started to shift, gone were the pillars and stairs, the walls pushed back to form a squared room. Rain backed up slowly and the wall in front of him began to push back to reveal a coffin, the coffin bursts open and a bright light comes from the inside, a figure begins to appear from the light, a man with orange hair, he’s wearing orange gold plated heavy armor with the phoenix symbol from the walls and statues on the centerpiece. He had armored wings on the back and more noticeably his body emitted a powerful orange gold aura, one that Rain has never seen before. The light began to dim and the figure was shown,

“You!” He said to Rain in a powerful booming voice,

“Are you Blaze?”

“You must be a son of Argus, but not Taven or Daegon, who are you?”

“I am Rain, how do you know I’m a son of Argus?”

“My powers and this temple can only be truly accessed by the children of Argus, since you are the only one to access it in millenniums, you are a child of Argus.”

“What are you Blaze?” Blaze floated towards Rain,

“I was created by Delia and Argus for the quest, Delia made me with the power of the Elder Gods, they gave me the power of a divine phoenix essence that is a spirit of creation and death. As so I was to be awaken when the combatants have become too powerful that combat was not enough to restrain them, I was to help the sons of Argus wipe the lives of many to start a new, but my power was not awakened, something changed the quest and as a result I remained sealed.”

“I see, well Blaze I came to challenge you as my right of a Son of Argus, I want to challenge you to Mortal Kombat for your power.”

“Despite you not being a part of the quest you still are a son of Argus, and I have not had a true challenge in a long long time. But why do you seek my power specifically, Rain?”

“To help bring back those who have tragically fallen.” Blaze paused and pondered for a bit,

“Very well, I accept your challenge, if you win not only will I unlock your true potential to your god powers but my essence, the spirit of the Great Phoenix shall become yours.” Rain nodded, he stretched and bowed to Blaze as a sign of respect, something he’s never done to an opponent, Blaze bows and assumes his stance, Rain assumes his stance, both waiting for who will make the first move. Blaze decides to throw the first attack, he goes for a couple strikes which Rain dodges and goes for a backhand strike which Blaze catches, Blaze pulls Rain closer and elbows him in the ribs, Rain then strikes Blaze’s arm to free his own, he then flips up hits Blaze’s temples of his head then charges it with electricity, Blaze gets stunned then Rain goes for three knees all charged with lightning. Blaze gets knocked back by the move, Blaze was amazed by this,

“Amazing, what do you call that move?” Rain was confused,

“I never really gave it one.”

“How about your Thunderstorm Lightning Strike?” Rain was pretty impressed by that,

“That’s...actually pretty creative.” 

“Forgive me, I haven’t had combat in ages, I must take this fight seriously if I am to be the victor.” Blaze got himself up and assumed his stance, Rain charged lightning through his hands and feet, he was risking it by charging his hands and feet but he had to try, Blaze charged and threw much more faster strikes, Rain tried blocking them all but got caught with a strong punch in the chest, Rain got knocked back to the wall. He got up and fired lightning through his hands which Blaze blocked with a wing shaped aura guard,

“I call this my Golden Phoenix Guard, a move is nothing without an excellent name.” Rain decided to do what he should’ve done before and try to put him out, Rain clapped his hands together, he started to charge electricity through his hands, he raised his hands and a giant wall of water started to form behind him,

“And I call this my Lightning Tidal Wave!” Rain pushed his hands out and the wave charged with lightning went towards Blaze, Blaze prepared to block, but the wall began to curve and close to trap Blaze. Rain was holding it open not closing it just yet, lightning began to strike inside the water, hitting Blaze,

“So you believe this attack will put out my flame? Understand this Rain, the power of the divine phoenix is something beyond the natural elemental world. In other words Rain, my phoenix flame is eternal and will never die!” Blaze began to charge his body, a golden aura began to emit from his body, Blaze released the charge and the water trap was blown away, a giant phoenix formed from the aura and Blaze shot his arms towards Rain,

“Burning Phoenix Flight!” He said as the phoenix screeched and charged at Rain, Rain jumped and teleported in a puddle of water towards Blaze and hit him with his spinning heel kick, then pushing himself up with his foot to go for a side kick with his other leg but Blaze caught it and rapidly punched Rain in the chest, following that Blaze shot a flaming blast which sent Rain back, Rain got knocked on the wall. Rain picked himself up and noticed that half of his upper body clothes was burnt off, suddenly he heard a familiar voice in his head,

“Rain.”

“Caro.” He said in his head,

“Blaze is a powerful opponent, your default fighting style can barely match his own skill. Listen, you and I are bound together by the ritual, why don’t I help you out?”

“I think having you coming here would be unfair.”

“Hehe, watch this.” Rain suddenly felt a weird surge through his body, his body began to buff a bit, he ripped off the other half of his top and began to charge and yell a loud battle cry. Rain begins to emit a purple and gold aura and then slowly assumes a stance, Blaze was confused but he went after Rain, Blaze went for a burning right hook but Rain caught it, he moved the punch aside and did a sharp chin kick which sent Blaze back. Blaze got up and went for it again this time going for a sweep which Rain dodged by launching himself to the side and doing a spinning push kick which Blaze caught but Rain hit him with three fast kicks to the face then spinned and did powerful electrically charged heel kick. Blaze was knocked back but amazed,

“Amazing, I haven’t faced a dragon warrior in ages.”

“Guess you figured it out.”

“Well I must not hold anything back, you brought it out, I will show you the true power of the divine phoenix!” Blaze began to levitate and charge up again he began getting engulfed in a light orb which shone brightly, Rain had to cover his eyes. He then felt the ring move up, it began moving up like an elevator and the ceiling opened up to the top of the pyramid. Raiden and Fujin saw the light coming from the temple, the light shined brightly through the sky, all corners of the world saw this light shine through day or night. The platform reached the top, the light started to be engulfed and Blaze slowly started to appear but different, his body was entirely golden, he wore no armor but his golden greaves, his back had giant golden wings and his head was changed to the head of a phoenix. Rain was amazed, he’s never seen a fighter quite like Blaze, but he knew he had to beat him. Raiden saw and remembered Blaze from the visions of him and Taven fighting Blaze, he knew this would be tough for Rain but he isn’t giving up hope on him. Rain assumed his new stance and prepared for his attack. Blaze flew towards Rain and hit him with a flying kick, he then grabbed Rain and flew him up high in the air,

“Take this, Divine Phoenix Diving Assault!” Blaze tossed Rain up and threw powerful burning strikes, he goes to punch Rain in the gut but Rain guarded the strike and pushed it aside, he then hit multiple kicks, striking Blaze in the ribs and face but Blaze countered with a powerful strike then flew behind and put him in a choke hold, he flew up a bit and then began to fly upside down, finishing the technique, Rain concentrated on the clouds and formed a dragon out of it, he used it to strike Blaze in the back, having him release the hold. Rain used the water to help him land easier on the temple, Blaze flew back to Rain and went for a frontflip axe kick but Rain guarded it and charged electricity in his hand to palm Blaze’s leg, he kept the lightning in his hands and went for swift strikes, hitting Blaze in the face, chest and ribs before he kicked Blaze’s leg making him take a knee. Rain kicked his chest multiple times before ending the assault with a powerful spinning heel kick. Blaze flips up and flies up, he clasped his hands together and appeared to be charging his Burning Phoenix Flight, Rain rotated his arms slowly and assumed his position, he started forming two dragons one made of lightning and one of water, Blaze was charging and forming a giant phoenix, Rain concentrated hard and replicated the dragons multiple times till there was an army of dragons, he merged them all into one forming hydra made entirely of lightning and water. Blaze was smirking widely at this,

“TAKE THIS DIVINE PHOENIX REBIRTHING FLIGHT!”

“You talk about names for techniques, here’s one for you, HYDRA STORM!” Blaze shot his hand out to Rain making the phoenix screech and fly towards Rain, Rain’s hydra roared and began charging a powerful beam, Rain shot his arm out and the hydra fired at the phoenix, knocking it back towards Blaze and Blaze was badly hurt, he was sent back flying by the attack. Blaze flew up and looked at Rain,

“This is the end Rain, this will be my last technique of the fight.” Blaze spread his arms wide open, he then raised a fist to the sky and levitated, he charged a golden light and flame into the fist, Rain felt that this one was most likely going to kill him but then he heard Caro’s voice again,

“The Immortal Fist Technique, fuse it with this one!” Rain nodded and assumed his stance and rotated his arms, he then charged his right fist and his right leg, Blaze was done and then charged at Rain,

“HERE IT IS! DIVINE BURNING LIGHT PHOENIX FIST!” Rain boosted himself up towards Blaze and got ready to throw a kick, once close to each other Rain’s leg pushed Blaze’s fist aside and did a 360 degree spin and punched Blaze in the chest, he kept pushing his fist with everything he had,

“This one is from Bo Rai Cho and Caro! IMMORTAL DRAGON FIST!” Rain punched through Blaze’s chest till his fist reached through his back. Blaze coughed out some orange blood, and smiled weakly, they both landed on the roof of the temple and Rain laid Blaze down,

“Heh….in all my years...I’ve never faced a...powerful fighter...them being a child of Argus...you’ve truly earned...my power.” Blaze placed a hand on Rain’s head, he started to fade away in a gold orange aura into Rain, Rain then shot up a bit in the air, his powers started to change, his body started to twitch and then he released lots of different energy until he passed out. Rain woke up in a bed, he ignored the same pain he always felt and just walked outside, he realized he was back in the Sky Temple, he saw Fujin and Raiden waiting outside,

“Lord Raiden, what happened?”

“You were fused with Blaze’s divine phoenix essence. It not only gave you access to the divine phoenix powers but it awoken your dormant powers of controlling the weather elements.” Raiden explained, Rain was confused but tested it out, he suddenly saw a gust of wind shoot out of his hand, Fujin smiled,

“Great you got the basics down but here’s something you should know.” Fujin walked to a nearby statue,

“Life is always filled with various surprises, the power of a god is far superior, it’s what makes your kind feared, Rain.”

“My kind? Are you referring to Edenians?” Fujin chuckled,

“Let me elaborate more, people who can control the elements of life, like Sub Zero with cryomancy, ever since the incident with his brother, Sub Zero has learned multiple techniques all revolving around his powers. It’s similar to how you can manifest a Hydra through water and lightning or Scorpion manipulating flames.” 

“I don’t understand what you're saying, Lord Fujin?”

“Elemental or nature based powers are a power that if mastered very well can rival up to beings like me and my older brother. Despite you having the power of a god, you need to know how to use it like a god, watch.” Fujin turned around and focused, then suddenly he started rapidly punching the statue, his fists were moving at a rapid speed that Rain couldn’t keep track of his fists, Fujin went faster and then stopped, only to watch it be split into evenly chopped pieces. Rain’s jaw dropped and he was amazed,

“Wow!”

“Yes very impressive, but that’s not all, try hitting me Rain.” Rain nodded and went for a jab but suddenly he felt his whole arm drift to the ground, Rain went for a kick but then a sharp attack stopped it even though Fujin wasn’t moving.

“By the Elder Gods, how are you doing this?”

“It’s simple, I’m using my power to its full potential. Air and wind is all around us, Rain. What I did with the statue was increase the wind speed of my strikes and kept increasing it, then I used my wind infused hands to chop it evenly by increasing the air pressure. As for your strikes I simply changed the direction of the wind your strike was causing you to lose balance and then I hit you with a wind strike, that’s how Gods use their powers, they always find ways to use it to it’s true potential.” Raiden nodded and walked a bit closer,

“Even now I used my powers on you, try moving.” Rain tried walking but he couldn’t, he was stuck, like the ground was attracted to him,

“What the?!”

“Here in Earthrealm this is called magnetism, when materials from the earth are struck by lightning they become magnetic, and that’s what I did, I made the soil magnetic and then manipulated it so it copied to your feet and released the opposite charge.” Rain was confused because he’s never heard of these words but he was determined to learn more,

“Will you teach me how to do this with my own powers?” He asked them,

“We will teach you how to fight like a god.” Raiden said,

“But first we must go to where me, Fujin and many others were trained to be gods, Elysium. A mountain that is crafted by the Elder Gods to train gods or beings with god powers.” Rain nodded he was excited for this new training, he received so many new abilities he can’t wait to try it out.


	11. Going the Distance

**Chapter 10: Going the Distance**

Rain, Raiden and Fujin made their way to Elysium, it’s a large mountain, with scratches and cuts, it was so tall that it went past the clouds. There was a giant gap in between the road and the mountain,

“This is where your first test in training will begin. You must climb this entire mountain to the top, we can teleport there since we did it already but you must climb it from the bottom, your entrance is right over there.” Raiden said, he pointed to a cave on the right, 

“I see. See you both at the top.” Raiden and Fujin teleported away and Rain made his way to the cave, once he reached the bottom he saw the beginning of the mountain, a giant lava moat was surrounding it, Rain tried using water to cool it off but it didn’t work. 

“Damn, think Rain.” Rain thought for a while and then he remembered what Fujin said, 

“Air and wind is all around us, Rain.” Rain wondered and took a step near the moat, he noticed the air holding his foot, he put his other foot on and he was hovering over the lava, Rain walked to the mountain and realized there was nothing to grab, so he thought and got a idea, he started to walk took a step on the mountain, he was standing horizontally and facing the sky, Rain took a deep breath, adjusted his bag so it wouldn’t fall, and started to run, he started to run up the mountain as fast as he could, he made it out of the cave and continued running up the mountain, he made it pass the clouds but there was still more to go, he kept running up the mountain, increasing the wind speed in his legs, but it wasn’t enough. Rain stopped for a sec to catch his breath but then he stopped and realized something, he can give himself air, Rain formed a suit of air, 

“Ah much better.” Rain then formed water on his back,

“Let’s see if this works.” Rain ran again increasing the wind speed, then Rain released a streams of water, increasing the water pressure to boost him more, running up the mountain was much easier like this, hours passed and Rain eventually made it near the top, he ran and made it, he saw Elysium entirely, a beautiful garden with a giant tree, a cave, a bunch of fruits and a big pond,

“Wow…” Raiden and Fujin were sitting and eating some apples,

“Ah Rain, join us.” Fujin said, Rain dropped his bag and joined them, he grabbed an orange and peeled it,

“So how did you get up here?” Fujin asked,

“Ran up here, gave myself lots of boosts with the wind.” 

“Excellent, you are already thinking like a god.” They ate and chatted for a while until nightfall then they called it a night. Rain woke up early and the two gods were waiting already,

“Ah good morning, to prepare yourself for this training we must see the full extent of your weather powers.” Raiden handed him a bunch of textbooks to Rain,

“Electricity and Magnetism...Meteorology...Potential and Kinetic Energy, Raiden what are all these books?”

“Cassandra Cage’s college textbooks, she didn’t want them so I asked if I could get it. To understand more of your powers we need to take it one step at a time. We already know you can manipulate winds, water and lightning but what about…” Raiden took the Meteorology textbook and flipped some pages until he found it,

“A Rainbow.”

“A Rainbow?” Rain confusingly asked,

“Yes it’s simple, when sunlight hits rain droplets some light is reflected, try using Blaze’s phoenix light and your water abilities to make one.” Rain shrugged, he concentrated on making droplets on his hands and then a rainbow showed, Rain was impressed by his own power, Raiden and Fujin clapped,

“Well done, now try to warp it in whatever way.” Rain did so and he slashed a fruit, caught the pieces and brought it to him,

“Excellent now we can begin your lightning and thunder advance training.” Raiden began teaching Rain more advanced techniques with his lighting such as magnetism, pulses and electric fields, they spent the whole day on electricity training until nightfall and then decided to eat dinner, 

“Lord Raiden, why did you accept me so quickly? After everything I’ve done you accepted me with open arms, why?”

“I believe everyone is capable of redemption...even Shao Kahn.” Rain and Fujin nearly choked on their food,

“R-really?!” Rain said,

“Yes, everyone can seek redemption even if death is the reason why.” Raiden said as he ate his bread,

“I see, thank you Lord Raiden, for everything and about Liu Kang…”

“Hm?” Raiden said, Fujin turned to Rain as well,

“I promise you I won’t kill him...despite my love for Kitana, I’ve learned that what’s best now is to save Liu Kang...besides he probably makes her happier than I ever would…” Raiden smiled,

“Cheer up Rain, the world and realms are huge, you’ll find someone.”

“Yea, I’m going to call it a night now...probably read up more about electricity so I can do new stuff.”

“Very well, goodnight Rain.” Rain got up and walked to the cave to sleep, Fujin got another banana before Raiden got his attention,

“Fujin, I have to tell you something…”

“What is it?”

“I’m proud of you.”

“What?”

“I’m proud of you living your dream, you have a wife and a son coming the way, I want you to know that I can never be more proud of you.”

“Raiden, are you alright?”

“Yes I am, I taught Rain everything I know and...I want you to take over as Rain’s mentor.”

“Why? I have no experience in training. I thought you were going to take control.”

“No Fujin, I called you here to take over his training, you can even do it in your home but I have my own journey to follow, I served my purpose to Rain, now it’s your time.” Fujin nodded,

“I see, well I wish you luck on your journey, brother.” Fujin said offering to shake hands, but Raiden gave him a hug, a tight hug, Fujin wasn’t sure how to react, he just hugged him back, Raiden then teleported off of Elysium outside of the Special Forces Base, he sighed and knew what he was going to do wasn’t going to be easy.


	12. Fix You

**Chapter 11: Fix You**

Raiden walked into the base and looked at Liu Kang’s memorial, he touched it and sighed, he went indoors to see Johnny Cage and Sonya walking out,

“Raiden, what’s up man?”

“Hello you two, how are you both?”

“We’re fine Raiden what happened? Liu Kang invasion?” Sonya asked,

“Not exactly but I want you to plan an attack, a month from now on Liu Kang’s base.”

“Really? We have a plan to save them?”

“Yes, I’ve been training Rain who has a power strong enough to rival Liu Kang’s.”

“Rain?” Johnny said confused,

“The traitor from Edenia? Seriously Raiden?” Sonya said,

“Rain is more than a traitor Sonya, I trained him to be better and he is willing to help you out in any way he can.”

“I see, well I’ll go help set it up, I’ll see you later Raiden.” Raiden nodded, Sonya walked off but right before Johnny can, Raiden stopped him, 

“Wait Johnny.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m proud of you.”

“Are you drunk again?” Raiden chuckled,

“No, when I met you, you only cared for yourself and your fame, but seeing you mature overtime, become a better man, become a strong warrior, it’s quite a sight to see. I’m proud of you Jonathan, I hope the best for you.” Johnny was confused but nodded at Raiden’s statement, both men walk away, Johnny goes to Sonya to tell her what happened,

“Hey Sonya...Raiden just said he’s proud of me?”

“Is he drunk?”

“That’s what I said, something is bothering him, I’m not sure what it is but it could be about Liu Kang.” They pondered Raiden’s weird mood shift all night, Raiden walked away and teleported to City Hall to visit an old friend, Raiden walked in and saw him finishing up some paperwork,

“Hello Mayor Stryker.” Stryker looked up and smiled,

“Raiden, it’s been a while.”

“Well I’m happy to see the mayor doing well here.”

“I wouldn’t have become mayor if I didn’t do all those things thanks to your guidance.” Stryker said smiling,

“No, your bravery is what made you do those things, your good nature and kind heart is what made you stand out.”

“Guess you didn’t come for a social visit huh thunder god?”

“No, I want to know if you’ll join the invasion of the Netherrealm?”

“Heh...still holding on for Liu Kang and the others?”

“That day still haunts me…”

“I understand...I’ll make sure to join the fight, it’s been a while since I put on that uniform plus nice to see others every now and then.”

“Great, now to talk to Hanzo Hasashi, Kabal and Kuai Liang’s family.”

“Good luck on that, especially that I heard Scorpion and Kabal are a bit unstable.”

“I can convince them.” Raiden said, Raiden shook his hand and teleported off to the Liang Family house, Kuai Liang was busy doing his daily business, wearing a jacket, jeans, boots and of course his eyepatch for his missing right eye,

“Lord Raiden?” He said, stopping what he’s doing,

“Greetings Kuai Liang, how’s Sareena, Jun and Frost?”

“They are doing very well, Frost went out with Sareena and Jun, but why are you here?”

“I need your family’s help.”

“Netherrealm invasion?”

“Yes the last one.”

“I see, well we are still allies, Lord Raiden, you helped me through a lot over the years we’ll be glad to help in any way we can.” 

“Thank you Kuai Liang.”

“Lord Raiden?” He said before Raiden walked off,

“Yes?”

“What are you planning on doing after you recruit allies?”

“Find the real Liu Kang.” Raiden said as he teleported off, Kuai sighed and continued his work, Raiden teleported to where Scorpion was resting, 

“Is there a reason you’ve disturbed my rest Raiden?” Scorpion asked,

“I need your help Hanzo.” Scorpion got up,

“Last time I checked, what you last said to me was if you ever see me you shall fry the flesh off my bones for killing Quan Chi.”

“I wasn’t myself back then Hanzo.”

“Save it, whatever it is I’m not helping.”

“Scorpion, you are the only man who can help us with the planning into the Netherrealm, you know which kind of new demons are there.”

“Like I said, not helping.”

“What about this, I’ll offer a spare truce between you and the Special Forces?”

“Fine…” Scorpion said, 

“Now go and let me rest Raiden, I spilled lots of blood today and I need my rest.” Raiden nodded and teleported to a road where Kabal was sleeping nearby

“Kabal…”

“Oh hey Raiden.”

“I need your help to join the allies in the invasion of the Netherrealm.”

“I don’t work for you or anyone.”

“This isn’t about sides Kabal, this is about saving friends.”

“Raiden I don’t fight for you, I do my own thing.”

“Liu Kang and the others helped you before, you remember those times.” 

“Those times were different, Raiden.”

“Kabal, I know you still care for them, and I know it’s hard to convince you but if you ever decided to change your mind, you’ll know where we’ll be.” Raiden teleported to a Fujin’s house which had a wonderful garden, he walked slowly and saw Cetrion watering some plants,

“Oh hello Cetrion.”

“Raiden? What brings you to my garden?” Raiden was kind of nervous but he had to do this last thing,

“I want to tell you something.” Cetrion got up and walked towards Raiden,

“What is it?”

“Do you remember training back in Elysium, Fujin, Geras and us two were working on that task for the Elder Gods right?”

“Oh I remember, we had to go get a golden apple.”

“Yes and Fujin and Geras raced after it but you tripped them but Fujin got launched right to it.” Raiden said with a chuckle,

“Yes it was quite the fun time, but why are you talking about that time Raiden?”

“Things back then used to be so simple, not so complicated like now. I used to enjoy just being free being able to do what I could to live, but now I’m stuck with this burden of protector god, and it’s because of it I never expressed my true feelings for you Cetrion.” Cetrion was reasonably confused and approached Raiden,

“What do you mean?”

“Cetrion, I always fancied you, I always had feelings for you for the longest, I care about you and the past few years hasn’t been a happy one for me, I want to get this off my chest before I go…” Cetrion was speechless, she wasn’t sure how to react but she did question the go part,

“Go? Go where?” Raiden sighed,

“I’m going to fight Liu Kang…”

“What?! Raiden have you gone mad?! Liu Kang has the power of Shinnok now thanks to that amulet, you won’t stand a chance!” Raiden smirked a bit,

“I can’t keep running away from my past anymore, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Kitana, Sindel, Jade, Tanya and Mileena are all dead because of me...I already lived long running away, I need to just see one more thing…” Cetrion ran and hugged Raiden crying,

“Please...please don’t Raiden….please don’t go!” Raiden smiled a bit, he turned around and hugged her tighter, he softly lifted her face and kissed her, he never kissed anyone but to him it felt natural, after a few seconds passed Raiden softly broke the kiss,

“...Goodbye, my love.” Raiden said, he released the hug and so did Cetrion, Raiden teleported away but Cetrion went to her knees and started crying, meanwhile in the Netherrealm, Raiden teleported outside Liu Kang’s castle,

“Forgive me little brother, forgive me for not being there to see my nephew, forgive me for everything I put you through. Forgive me too Rain, I won’t be there to see you fight Liu Kang...you better keep that promise Rain.” Raiden thought to himself, he shot a pulse which broke down the doors of Liu Kang’s castle, he stared directly at Liu Kang who was sitting on his throne next to Kitana,

“Heh...hello old man.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare a tissue box


	13. Epitaph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter made me cry

**Chapter 12: Epitaph**

Raiden got his staff out, 

“Liu Kang, I came here to defeat you!” Liu Kang laughed,

“You aren’t worth my time, but I don’t mind having good entertainment.” Liu Kang snapped his fingers and then Raiden saw Kung Lao and Jade coming from above, Raiden blocked them with a shield then hit them with both with the staff, Mileena and Tanya charged from behind throwing strikes, Raiden dodged them all, jumped and slammed their heads together, Sindel came from behind ready to attack with her Kwan Tao then Kitana came from the right, Raiden tossed Tanya at Sindel and tossed Mileena at Kitana. Raiden got his staff and assumed his stance, the revenants got back up and surrounded Raiden, Liu Kang was laughing on his throne,

“See this, yet again you are surrounded by your mistakes Raiden, something you seem to have a habit for doing.”

“I know Liu Kang and you’re right, these are my mistakes, my sins, but at least I have the courage to face them!” Raiden said, the revenants charged at Raiden, Raiden struck them with his staff, countering all their strikes, Raiden saw Kung Lao tossing his hat but Raiden sparkported behind and thunder clapped his head, he flipped over Kung Lao and kicked Sindel and Jade, he blocked Tanya’s, Kitana’s and Mileena’s attacks with ease before kicking Kitana’s gut, he then grabbed her and tossed her into Mileena before drop kicking Tanya. Kung Lao tried coming from behind but Raiden magnetized his feet to the ground and doing his flying thunder god attack, Kitana and Mileena surprised Raiden and went to stab his head but Raiden blocked it despite him getting jammed with Mileena’s sai and Kitana’s dagger. Kung Lao saw this as an opening and put Raiden in a Full Nelson lock, Kitana and Mileena kept attacking Raiden’s ribs, then Sindel, Tanya and Jade joined in and kept on assaulting Raiden like a wounded animal, damaging his clothing, Raiden coughed out some blood, Liu Kang laughed and approached Raiden,

“Worthless thunder god!” He said as he smacked him, Liu Kang grabbed Sindel’s Kwan Tao and got ready to stab Raiden in the head, but Raiden charged every amount of lightning in his body and released it with everything he had, knocking back the revenants, he then did his flying thunder god attack at Liu Kang, Raiden knew he couldn’t keep this up for long, Sindel screamed at Raiden stunning him, Kung Lao goes to cut his head off but Raiden moves out the way, causing his chest to get cut, Jade stabbed Raiden in the arm with her Razer Rang, then Tanya joined in with her Kobu Jutsus stabbing Raiden’s legs, Raiden just laughed at it, following that was Sindel’s Kwan Tao, Mileena’s sais and Kitana’s daggers in his back. Kung Lao goes for a killing blow, laughing as he’s going to do it, but Raiden with the last strength he had, knocked them off him, all the revenants were shocked,

“You should be near death! How?!” Mileena yelled, Raiden chuckled, he removed his hat and mask, letting his hair flow, 

“Something...you don’t understand...gods get stronger near...death…” Raiden assumes his stance weakly, they charged at him but Raiden put up a fight, despite the wounds, despite the blood he was losing, despite the fact that he was outmatched, he kept fighting. He successfully knocked Jade out, following that was Tanya, then Kitana, Mileena and Sindel. Kung Lao kept attacking him and punching him but Raiden despite being up against the wall and the Kwan Tao being pushed more into his shoulder, shocked Kung Lao rendering him unconscious. Raiden walked weakly to Liu Kang, he pulled out all the weapons from his body, Liu Kang smirked and punched him and kicked him back. He thought he had this and turned around but Raiden got himself up despite the pain, Liu turned back around and beat him some more. Raiden just got back up, Liu Kang was getting more furious, he punched Raiden in the gut, while Raiden was down Liu Kang kept kicking Raiden in the ribs, then he curb stomped him and kept stomping in his face,

“WHY. WON’T. YOU. STAY. DOWN. OLD. MAN?!” He said yelling, Liu Kang was breathing heavily out of anger, but Raiden coughed out more blood and got back up. 

“Because...I know...the real...Liu Kang...is still there...fighting the possession...fighting the control…”

“That Liu Kang is dead Old Man, you will never get him back. All that remains is the true king of hell, the new Shinnok, the God of the Dead, Liu Kang.” Raiden coughed more blood out,

“Then...do it...coward…” Raiden said, Liu Kang was confused but chuckled,

“You want me to kill you? There’s no fun in that.”

“Cut the bravado...the real Shinnok would’ve killed me…where I stood...once they stabbed me…” Raiden began to slowly spread his arms wide, Liu Kang got ready slowly to charge the immortal fist,

“You really have gone senial old man.”

“Shut up...and do it already, coward!” Raiden kept saying to do it despite him shaking to charge the immortal fist. Liu Kang kept hearing Raiden saying to do it that eventually after releasing a loud cry and punched through Raiden’s chest, his fist piercing through his chest and through his back. Raiden’s eyes widened once he felt it, Raiden weakly smiled and pushed himself closer to Liu Kang and gave him a weak hug. Raiden saw tears fall through Liu Kang’s eyes,

“Heh…” he said before coughing blood,

“I...knew it...you’re still in there...Liu Kang...I won’t see you….once you all come back...but I’ll always watch...over you all…” Raiden slowly removes Liu Kang’s headband before pushing him off his fist, 

“Why did you take my headband?” Raiden weakly stumbled back to his hat and mask,

“Because...this...this is for...the person...who will...keep his promise...I served my...last purpose and...got the answer...I needed...goodbye…my son…” Raiden said before teleporting off, Liu Kang was confused by what he said but he wiped his tears and waited for the other to get back up, still having Raiden’s words echo in his head.


	14. What a Wonderful World

**Chapter 13: What a Wonderful World**

Rain woke up and saw only Fujin and was confused,

“Lord Fujin? Where’s Lord Raiden?”

“He wants me to take over your training completely. I am your new master, he said he had to-“ Fujin was cut off once he saw thunder and lightning appear, Raiden was there, covering his chest wound with his hat. Fujin and Rain question this but then Raiden dropped his hat and mask showing the gaping hole in his chest, they run to him and Fujin catches him, Rain was speechless and Fujin was beginning to cry,

“Raiden! Hang on we will-“ 

“Come...closer Rain...Fujin…” they came closer, Raiden put Liu Kang’s headband on Rain, he adjusted it weakly then smiled once he tightened it, he then put his hat on Fujin’s head,

“....one last request...before I...go…” Fujin kept crying hard,

“Sing...that...Earthrealm...song...the one...we heard...so I can rest...easy…” Fujin nodded and sniffed up some snot,

“S-some...where, o-over the r-rainbow…” Rain then couldn’t hold it much and began crying,

“W-way...up...h-high…” Fujin wiped some tears,

“A-and...the dreams that you dreamed of...o-once in a...lullaby…” Raiden enjoyed the song and as he saw the sunrise, closed his eyes and accepted death peacefully, thinking only about the happy future he hoped for. It was not that long that Fujin came with Rain to the Special Forces Base with Raiden’s body in his hands, Sonya was the first to come out then Johnny and Cassie once they heard Sonya crying, everyone in the realms heard of Raiden’s death, from Kuai Liang’s family to Erron and Skarlet, to Li Mei and the Outworld Council, even the lone warriors like Kabal and Scorpion heard of Raiden’s death. His funeral was massive, a god hasn’t died in ages, especially one like Raiden, everyone was there at the service, Erron, Skarlet, Li Mei, Reptile, Ermac, Stryker, Nightwolf, Kabal, Scorpion, Kuai Liang, Sareena, Jun Liang, Frost, The Special Forces and Sheeva. Even Geras and Cetrion came, Rain really didn’t talk to anyone through the service, only until after he decided to talk to Erron who was smoking a cigarette,

“How do you deal with lost Black?”

“I lost so many people close to me, it just became a common thing for me. Guess the way I got used to it was that I always take...I always take that one message, that important thing that they lived by...and you engrave it in your heart.” 

“I see…” Erron put out his cig,

“Hey man, if you ever need anything, we got your back. We know what it’s like to be outsiders, best to be sometimes with people who understand.” Erron said patting his back, Erron walked off and then Fujin came,

“Lord Fujin.”

“We have a month to prepare, if we are going to defeat Liu Kang then you must know how to fight with the wind.”

“Will we go back to Elysium?”

“No, we will head to my home in the mountains, the winds there will be good for your training.” Rain nodded, he knew that he was close to fighting Liu Kang and he was close to getting back his friends and loved ones, he will not let Raiden down.


	15. Winds of Change

**Chapter 14: Winds Of Change**

Rain and Fujin went to his house in the mountains where his pregnant wife was waiting, 

“Hello Ayane.” Fujin said with a smile,

“Glad to see you back my love, who’s this?”

“Rain, he’s my student and is going to be a helping hand around here.” Ayane nods,

“Glad to meet you Rain.” Rain nodded at her and then went to get settled, once he got his training gear on, a tank top, his gi pants and Liu Kang’s headband, Fujin was waiting outside for him,

“To understand wind you must be able to know how to use it in ways your opponent has never seen.” Fujin pointed at the nearby mountain,

“Just like the statue, strike the mountain with fast movements.” Rain nodded and assumed a stance, he started punching rapidly a barrage of fists,

“Great, now enfuse your lightning into it.” Rain nodded and with a crack of thunder, his fists were electric.

“It’s not fast enough Rain go faster!” Rain did so and went in a blinding speed, his fists were barely visible,

“FASTER!” Rain increased the wind speed to an insane level; his fists were not visible anymore until he stopped, he left over a thousand electrified strikes on the mountain. 

“Good.” Rain knew this training would be harder than before, something he has to overcome. The next day Rain’s training continued,

“You must be ready for your opponent at all times, dodge all my strikes completely.” Rain was confused,

“How?”

“Just like your fists, remember wind is all around you and you can produce it yourself.” Rain assumed his stance and Fujin threw multiple blinding rapid strikes, Rain was moving and dodging through all of them, Fujin increased the wind speed and Rain still was determined to dodge them. This training continued as the following week, Fujin showed Rain how to change the wind direction, to counter projectiles and even be tactical with his weaponry. The following week, Fujin prepared a test,

“To truly test your skill with the winds and airs, you must be blindfolded and do all actions with the blindfold on.” Rain nodded and used the headband as a blindfold. He can make shapes out of the wind around him, almost like a echolocation, he did his daily routine, helped Ayane with her housework and continued to train. Rain continued his wind training, always throwing rapid strikes, tornados and being in tune with the elements he mastered. It was the last day of training when Rain was resting, Ayane brought him some green tea and bread,

“Oh, thank you ma’am.”

“My pleasure, seeing how you’ve been helpful around the house, I wonder if our little one will be that way.”

“Well he’ll have great parents, Fujin is a wonderful person.”

“He is, I thank the Elder Gods that I have the blessing to be with him.”

“Yes...say Ayane?” She turned around before she left,

“What is it, Rain?” 

“Well can I ask for your advice about something?” Ayane nodded, Rain took a deep breath,

“If you love someone right, but they love someone else and not you, and that person makes them really happy, what would you do?” Ayane chuckled,

“Rain, do you like someone?”

“Yes ma’am.” Ayane chuckled some more,

“Well, this person seems to be happier with that person. Have you interacted with them? Have you been there for them? Or even opened up to them.” Rain stayed a bit silent,

“I have done those things, some of it.” Ayane nods,

“I see, well I like to believe that we all have someone out there that can make us truly happy. Someone to lean on, someone to go to, someone to cherish and love. But even if it hurts us, even if it tears us apart, breaks our hearts and even makes us cry that someone we love isn’t with us and they are better and happier with someone else, then you let them be happy Rain. We all have someone out there to make us happy, Rain. I found mine but you can’t take other’s happiness.” Ayane said, Rain nodded, she was right, even if it hurt him he has to let her go, even if he killed Liu Kang it wouldn’t matter, it wouldn’t feel right to do that to her. Rain loves Kitana but he loves her enough to respect her happiness, Rain sat down and looked outside to the stars to ease his mind, to relax for the battle coming ahead.


	16. Gates of Hell

**Chapter 15: Gates of Hell**

Rain got up early to prepare himself, Fujin came into his room and gave him a suitcase,

“What’s this?”

“Ayane and I made this for you, try it.” Rain opened it, it was a new outfit, one made of leather, a dark purple leather vest and pants with gold lines going down the sides, gold leather boots, a purple mask with the top removed and a gold mouth guard. Rain was surprised by this outfit,

“Where did you get the material to make this?”

“Trading and some people I know.” Rain went to put it on, he also grabbed his sword and a bow with arrows.

“I promise you Ayane, I will be back.” Fujin said,

“Be safe my love, you too Rain.” They both nod and Rain has Caro open a portal to the base, the men were stocking up on weapons and tanks, the rest were waiting inside, Fujin began his briefing,

“I never quite done this but here’s how we are going to do this, team Alpha will be led by General Blade, Captain Cage and Major Briggs, they will be on the frontlines as the distraction. They will wait for the signal by team Gamma which will be Scorpion, Sub Zero, Smoke, Cyrax, Rain and Kabal, who will sneak into the Netherrealm and get close to the castle, from there Rain will go and defeat Liu Kang and the other revenants. Sareena will also be a leader for team Alpha since she knows the demons more than anyone here, we must all make it back alive and do this not just for our friends, but for Raiden. Raiden the man who led you all to battle against Kahn and Shinnok, Raiden the man who believed in all of you and even in his grave believes in you, he believes that we will do his last will and save them. May the Elder Gods watch over us.” They all cheered and then went to get ready, Sub Zero was waiting with the rest for Rain,

“So Rain, we are guarding you?”

“Well if you put it like that…” Sub Zero chuckled,

“No worries, we have faith in you Rain.” 

“Hey, can we get on with this? I want to get this over with and spilling demon blood is the only way it’s going to get good for me.” Scorpion said,

“Scorpion is right. Rain, open a portal for us.” Rain opened a portal to the Netherrealm, Sub Zero was leading them and stopped after a few steps in, 

“Scorpion.” Scorpion nodded and placed his hand on the ground, his rope dart went through the ground and started exploring the ground, sensing for the patrols,

“4 patrols, one coming this way, two surrounding the road to the castle and the other one on the far right of the mountain.” He said as he got his rope dart back, 

“I see, damn we need a quiet trap.”

“I got this, how many men in the patrol Scorpion?” Rain asked,

“6.” Rain took out six arrows and fired them into the air, he then used the wind to suspend them in mid air,

“That’s pretty useful.” Smoke said, Sub Zero ordered the group to hide behind the nearby wall, the demon patrol came walking by, once they were set in place, Sub Zero ordered Rain to fire, Rain shot the arrows at their heads.

“If we make it this way, through the side of the mountain we can quickly take a shortcut up to the castle.” Scorpion said,

“Very well, follow Scorpion men.” Scorpion led the group through the side of the mountain, shimming through the edge of the mountain until reaching the edge,

“Damn, we have to climb the rest of the way up.” Scorpion said, Scorpion shot his rope dart to use as a rope, Sub Zero formed his ice claws to scale it, Cyrax shot his grapple gun, Smoke heated up his hands to have grip on the mountain and Kabal used his hookswords to scale. Once they made it to the shortcut, they snuck pass the nearby patrols until making it to the top where the castle was. Sub Zero turned to Cyrax,

“Call it Cyrax.”

“This is team Gamma, we made it to the top, prepare ground assault.” Then from the ground of the mountain, the Earthrealm forces charged in, being led by Fujin, the demon hordes came in to charge for battle and the battle began. Sub Zero and the men ran to the castle where the revenants but Liu Kang came out and prepared for battle, Liu Kang was watching from his balcony,

“Ah glad to see you all again, but alas, none of you are worth my time. My lovely family, kill them and have them become new servants.” Liu Kang said as he walked back inside, Sub Zero, Scorpion, Kabal, Rain and Smoke assumed their stances while Cyrax put his armor on to get ready for battle, the men charged at the revenants, Sub Zero taking on Kung Lao, Kabal taking on Sindel, Smoke taking on Jade, Scorpion taking on Mileena, Cyrax taking on Tanya and Rain taking on Kitana. It was quite a fair match up between Kung Lao and Sub Zero,

“C’mon iceman, let me show you what a true champion is-“

“Shut your mouth and fight, asshole.” Kung Lao got ready to attack but Sub Zero assumed a stance, his eye turned red and charged with a powerful roar, he dodged Kung Lao’s hat and clawed Kung Lao’s neck. Kung Lao coughed and fell on his knees, but he laughed it off once he started to heal, Sub Zero stands normally,

“Hey dumbass, remember? Revenants can’t die to you.”

“Hey dumbass, I just hit you with Fenrir’s Claw, if I were you I wouldn’t be talking shit.” Kung Lao went to charge at him but then his leg went numb and he couldn’t move it,

“What?!”

“Fenrir’s Claw was a technique I learned from training with the Cryomancer Wolf King, Taizen Fenrir. What I did was with my ice claw, I sent a freezing feeling through your body which makes your body become paralyzed, only feeling nothing but the cold.” Sub Zero said before he walked off, Kung Lao’s body began to shut down and become paralyzed, 

“S-s-so...c-c-cold…” he said before the last bit of his body became paralyzed. Meanwhile, Kabal was dodging all of Sindel’s strikes,

“Stand still and die coward!” She said, Kabal just ignored her, she went to scream but Kabal dashed by her side and quickly vibrated his hand,

“Hey Sindel, karma’s a bitch.” he said before he snapped his fingers in her eyes causing her to be knocked out by the miniature sonic boom in her ear. Scorpion and Mileena were proving a fair matchup, both countering each other,

“You should’ve been on our side, who knows you could’ve been one of my personal pets.” She said seductively,

“Is your name Harumi Hasashi?”

“Who?” Mileena said and that’s when Scorpion’s rope dart came from the ground and wrapped around her neck, slammed her down, Scorpion then double stomped her gut, broke her leg then arm and knocked her out with a flaming punch,

“Exactly.” Tanya saw this and knocked Cyrax out and went after Scorpion, 

“YOU BASTARD DON’T YOU DARE HURT MY LOVE-“

“Can it.” He said as he teleported to her side, elbowing her face then kicking her gut, after that he broke her leg, punched her multiple times in the gut and snapped her arm before knocking her out with a spinning heel kick in the jaw. Jade was proving to be a challenge for Smoke but Smoke threw gas in her face and then went on a teleporting punching barrage spree before grabbing her and German Suplexing her out. Meanwhile, Kitana tried striking Rain to no avail, Rain thunderclapped her and then grabbed her head,

“Now Blaze!” A golden aura was emitting from Rain’s hands and slowly Kitana started to revert back to her normal self, she passed out but Rain caught her. Rain carried her and the group brought the rest of the revenants with them, 

“Alright, do your thing.” Sub Zero said, Rain started to emit his gold aura again, having it glow over their bodies, the revenants slowly became back to normal again, Sub Zero smiled,

“Just one more, we will take care of them and guard them. You focus on Liu Kang.” Scorpion said, Rain nodded then walked to the doors, he put his bow and arrows aside and dropped his sword, he then kicked the doors down and walked down the hall, up the stairs to Liu Kang’s throne,

“Oh Rain, seems like my revenants finished off your friends.”

“The revenants are no longer under your control…” Liu Kang’s widen his eyes, but then gained his arrogant smirk back,

“And you? You are here to kill me?”

“No, I'm here to bring back the man Kitana loves.” Rain said as he assumed his stance, Liu Kang chuckled and got up slowly, he fired a flaming beam and Rain countered with his water beam. Rain and Liu Kang started each other down preparing for the war they were about to put themselves through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shall I keep the squad?   
> P.S don’t take the Scorpion fucking up Mileena and Tanya seriously, Scorpion is just a savage and doesn’t care


	17. The Phoenix Dragon Will Never Die

**Chapter 16: The Phoenix Dragon Will Never Die**

Liu Kang did his flying dragon kick but Rain countered with his own spinning heel kick, Liu Kang flipped and went for another kick which Rain caught and kicked him in the chest. Liu Kang flipped back up and went for multiple punches, all caught by Rain. Rain then hit Liu Kang with a powerful pulse knocking him back,

“...You’re better, much better than before, Rain.”

“I’m not the same Rain as before Liu Kang, stop talking and fight.” Liu Kang flipped up and teleported to Rain’s side and kicked him back, Rain flipped up and shot thunderbolts at him, Liu Kang dodged and flipped out the way. Liu Kang began throwing a rapid barrage of dragon fires, Rain countered with his own made of water, Liu Kang then teleported to Rain and began to go for an assault, punch after punch, kick after kick, but Rain was still managing. Rain then did Raiden’s sparkport and hit Liu with the flying thunder god attack but Liu Kang countered by kneeing his jaw, Rain flipped up and went for his Thunderstorm Lightning Strike but Liu Kang blocked the knee, then Rain flipped backwards and went for a axe kick which Liu Kang countered and started to hit Rain, hitting him with a barrage of punches in the gut, on the last punch Rain used a wind counter and went for a rapid barrage of kicks, doing a battle cry for each kick before hitting him with a powerful electrically charged kick in the head, sending Liu Kang flying. Rain didn’t care for the pain, Liu Kang slowly got back up and laugh,

“You may have gotten training by those fools but you are no match for me Rain.”

“Rain…” a voice said in his head,

“Blaze?” 

“Combine the essence of the dragon and the phoenix, this fight is going to be a powerful one, you need to be at your full potential.” Rain nodded, he charged up a powerful aura, an orange gold aura which enhanced his muscles, causing the vest to rip apart. Liu Kang was shocked by this, he’s never seen power like this. Rain’s dragon tattoo was starting to change too into a Dragon and Phoenix standing next to each other, then a gold aura started to engulf Rain’s body, after releasing the power he was wearing Blaze’s Phoenix armor, 

“What the hell is this?”

“I’ll show you, Burning Phoenix Flight!” Rain said before shooting Kang with the Burning Phoenix Flight, Liu Kang was knocked back, Rain then flew to Kang and kicked him in the gut before doing an uppercut, Rain started throwing a barrage of punches and kicks, Liu Kang countered and went to strike Rain but Rain did the Phoenix Guard, after pushing his punch aside, Rain kicked Liu Kang with all the force he had, which knocked him out of the castle. Liu Kang realized he was bleeding, the others were watching from the sidelines as they saw Rain come out wearing the Phoenix Armor,

“You dare make me bleed?!”

“It won’t be the first time, are you done Liu Kang?” Liu laughed,

“Trust me this isn’t even my full power.” Liu Kang began to charge and emit a dark red aura, Sub Zero and the others move the others farther away, Liu Kang’s hair and eyes turned red, his armor began to warp into something darker, his hands became claws, his eyes distorted into something sharp and horns started to appear on his forehead,

“I am the God of Hell…” he said before charging at Rain, Rain barely could guard Liu Kang’s strike, Liu Kang and Rain began trading blows, both being painful and powerful, Rain and Liu Kang were focused on seriously hurting each other. Liu Kang countered one of Rain’s strikes and threw a powerful kick sending him back, Liu Kang teleported over Rain and double stomped him down, down to the armies fighting, the Earthrealm forces notice Rain and Liu Kang fighting, Liu Kang goes for another kick but Rain countered and blinded Liu Kang, Rain then threw rapid strikes, fast but powerful, after a minute he punched Liu Kang back, but Liu Kang then summoned bone hands which trapped Rain,

“What the?”

“I learned many things from fusing with Shinnok, including this.” Liu Kang snapped his fingers and multiple demons came and formed into one giant demon, Rain concentrated to form his water, wind and electricity dragons which all merged into the hydra, Rain then broke free by freeing the phoenix. Liu Kang stood on the shoulders of his demon giant, Liu Kang brought more demon giants, Rain made the hydra start charging a typhonic blast and then appeared to start to charge a Burning Phoenix Flight. Fujin ordered the Earthrealm forces to back up, Liu Kang made the giants charge a blast of theirs. Liu Kang pointed at Rain and the giants began to fire and Rain pointed at Liu Kang, 

“HYDRA TSUNAMI!” Rain said as he threw a powerful tsunami at the beam, the blasts cancelled each other, but that’s what Rain wanted, Rain then came flying with a dive kick, the phoenix aura surrounding him and the hydra separated into a barrage of dragons, he had the dragons kill the giants and Rain kicked Liu Kang in the gut, after that he dragged Liu Kang up with his foot, Liu Kang tried fighting it by firing blasts but to no avail, Rain dragged Liu Kang up to the sky, Liu Kang escaped and began to assault Rain in the air, making him bleed and bruise, but Rain countered Liu Kang’s last strike to thunderclap him, he then went behind and put him in a chokehold and diving down while holding him, Rain then stunned him more and flew right in front of him and began throwing a barrage of burning strikes, 

“Blaze never did this on me but here it goes, Divine Phoenix Diving Assault!” Rain said before punching Liu Kang in the gut, pushing him with his fist to the ground and releasing an aura Phoenix to fire a powerful burning blast. Sub Zero made an ice bunker to guard the rest from the blast. Rain and Liu Kang were knocked out from the blast but a few seconds past and both men got up, both were badly damaged, they only had their lower half of their clothing left, they slowly got up and were ready to continue the fight, one last round, the Earthrealm forces just made there way to the castle and Rain and Liu Kang were ready for the last fight.


	18. I Will Not Die

**Chapter 17: I Will Not Die**

Rain and Liu Kang got ready to fight despite their weakened states, Liu Kang assumed Shinnok’s stance while Rain assumed Raiden’s stance, they both charged at each other, Rain doing strikes similar to Raiden and Liu throwing strikes similar to Shinnok. Rain punched Liu Kang and went for a kick but Liu Kang blocked it and broke his leg. Rain flipped up and went for a rapid barrage of kicks, increasing the wind speed as he threw kicks, Liu Kang knocked him back and punched him in the gut, then tossed him aside and got ready to stab him with a bone spear but Rain somehow called Raiden’s staff which he used to hit Liu Kang back,

“Raiden’s staff?!”

“Raiden is with me in this battle, his will and dream lives in me and you better believe I’ll make it come true!” He started to throw strikes with the staff, breaking Liu Kang’s bone spear, he then threw a powerful electric force to knock Liu Kang back, he then magnetized Liu Kang’s feet to the ground, he then summoned a water whip and used the electricity to carry the staff, he started to rapidly move the whip and staff onto Liu Kang, throwing rapid strikes with both weapons which Liu Kang was being pressured by. Rain thought he had this but Liu Kang suddenly broke Raiden’s staff in half with pure force, he then did his flying dragon kick which Rain countered with his spinning heel kick, but then Liu Kang moved Rain’s leg closer to him and double stomped his leg, causing it to break, Liu Kang then continued the assault, breaking Rain’s ribs with flaming strikes, then he punched him in the gut and clapped his face causing a portion of his cheeks to burn off, showing a bit of his jaw, Liu Kang then broke both Rain’s arms, tackled Rain onto the wall then began brutalizing him by rapidly punching his face,

“You are nothing! Nothing but a traitor! A fool! And a weakling to think you stood a chance against me!” Rain was about to lose consciousness until he heard someone yell 

“STOP!” Rain weakly looked to the right, it was Kitana, who woke up recently and saw most of the fight,

“This isn’t you Liu Kang, please stop this!”

“Heh...you care for this weakling?!”

“I care for all life Liu Kang, but this isn’t the man I love, please come back to me!” Liu Kang was shaking his fist, almost like the real him was trying to fight it, Rain then felt fury in his heart, he let out a loud roar and using the water in his body to hold his broken arm in place, threw a electrified punch,

“WHAT?! How?! I broke your arms and le-“

“Shut up and fight you bastard.” Liu Kang went to throw another punch but Rain countered with his other broken arm which was placed back to how it was and he threw another punch,

“I know I broke your bones, why are you still standing?” 

“Haven’t you figured it out, I used my own powers to keep my body standing, and guess what? I’m gonna keep doing that, despite how many bones you break, despite how many times you hit me, I won’t feel a single damn thing, the only way I’ll accept defeat is if I die.”

“So be it.” Liu Kang said, Liu Kang charged at Rain, Rain blocked all his strikes, Liu Kang then threw a high kick but then he didn’t see it coming, Rain let his right leg go of the water hold, making him go down, Rain then charged a powerful electric pulse into his hand and struck Liu Kang’s leg, causing it to break. Rain then adjusted his leg back straight with the water to do a sweep kick breaking Liu Kang’s other leg, Rain then punched him in the gut then he started throwing strikes again, first some slow then picking up the wind speed and throwing it faster, his fists charged with lightning and Blaze’s light, Liu Kang’s body was being hit with everything, Rain then screamed and his hits became much more faster, and it kept going, Rain’s knuckles started to scrape off and Rain kept going with strikes till throwing a powerful one to knock back Liu Kang.

“Damnit! I am the God of Hell, and no mere weakling will beat me!” Liu Kang charged his fist with a demonic aura and dark red flame, 

“DIE RAIN!” He said running towards Rain, Rain then charged his right fist with all the power he had left and ran to Liu Kang, Liu Kang goes for a hook but then Rain ducked by letting his legs loose and boosting himself up with water jetstreams, landing the uppercut and sending Liu Kang upward, Rain then went in mid air charging his fist with everything he’s got and dives towards Liu Kang fist forward,

“PHOENIX DRAGON REBIRTHING FIST!” Rain charged and flew pass Liu Kang and crash landed by the cliff, Liu Kang wasn’t sure what just happened and no one else figured it out, Liu Kang only started laughing but then a golden aura appeared on Liu Kang’s chest, under it showed his human self,

“W-What?!” Then half of his revenant face came off which showed the real Liu Kang, who seemed unconscious under the shell. Then Shinnok’s amulet was destroyed and after that, the revenant shell was beginning to shatter like it was hit with a powerful beam, then Shinnok’s soul appeared which ended up being destroyed along with the revenant shell, freeing the real Liu Kang. Rain was still out and Liu Kang fell, the Earthrealm forces surrounded Liu Kang’s unconscious body, Kitana came and started to shake Liu Kang’s body awake, the other unconscious revenants regained consciousness and went to the Earthrealm forces, Kung Lao was reunited with his family and friends, so was Jade and Sindel, Mileena and Tanya woke up too and ran to the other Edenians and hugged them tightly for finally being free. Rain heard them being happy, he coughed out some blood and smiled, he then formed his water casts and started to walk off, Liu Kang then woke up and saw Kitana,

“K-Kitana…”

“By the Elder Gods, yes it’s me my love!” Kitana kisses Liu Kang, glad to see him back alive again,

“Wait where’s Rain?” Sub Zero said, Mileena and Tanya turned to see Rain heading to the edge of the cliff, Mileena ran to the cliff

“Rain!” She shouted, Rain turned around and smiled weakly,

“Pesky like...a little...sister...heh...glad to...see you back….but...goodbye…” Rain spread his arms wide open and fell backwards off the cliff, he then had Caro open a portal to Erron Black’s ranch, he landed outside and crawled his way to the barn and rested his back against the barn wall and smiled. Then he heard voices coming from outside, it sounded like Erron and Nightwolf. Erron and Nightwolf walked out to the back and went to the barn, Nightwolf lifted his arm to stop Erron,

“What?”

“I hear someone breathing.” Erron pulled out his revolver from his holster and took aim, Nightwolf took out his hatchet. He gave Erron a hand signal and they slowly moved into the barn only to find a battered, badly damaged and injured Rain sitting and resting his body on the wall while also having a smile, Erron and Nightwolf put back their weapons and get close to see what’s wrong,

“Rain, what in Sam Hill did you get into?”

“Heh...it’s over Erron...I did...it.” Rain said before he lost consciousness, Erron then turned to Nightwolf,

“Run to the house! Get Skarlet to open the guest room now!” Nightwolf nodded and ran to the house, Erron carried the weakened Rain to the house and had him rest in the guest room. A few hours later, Kabal came and explained to the three about the situation, they agreed to help him in any way they could. Meanwhile, Liu Kang, Kung Lao and the Edenian family made their homecoming, greeted their other friends and masters. A few weeks passed and Li Mei pleaded to the Elder Gods to free Edenia from Outworld which they did, Liu Kang and Kitana announced that they will be sharing a wedding with Tanya and Mileena, all seemed to be right in the world thanks to Rain.


	19. Heroes Get What They Need

**Chapter 18: Heroes Get What They Need**

Rain slowly woke up after being out, he noticed that he was bandaged up, he noticed the casts and the bandages, specifically on his face. Rain wanted to move and started moving around, that’s when Erron and Skarlet came in,

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Erron said,

“You wear...glasses now...Skarlet?”

“Not gonna question the amount of medical stuff on you, just the fact that I wear glasses now, I have to for my vision.” Skarlet said as she rolled her eyes,

“How long have I been here?”

“A few weeks now, your injuries were really bad so we had doctors come in to put your bones back in place and repair your cheeks. Skarlet then used some of the blood magic to make it heal a bit faster, your left arm, your face and right leg should be good. Look if you need anything we are here for you, we can even tell the others that you are good.”

“It’s fine Erron, I’d rather try to stay away from them, it might be a bit awkward with me there anyways.”

“Oh right, your crush. Well some of my old clothing is in the closet, it’s Skarlet’s night to make dinner so just feel free to stretch your legs, maybe join me and the boys for a beer.” Rain sat up,

“I can just get my dragon to heal me.”

“Yea I already went to work to keep this place private and only have my family visit. Plus I don’t need the news to question why there is a flying dragon passing through Texas.”

“Right, can you help me remove the healed bandages?” Erron nodded and he and Skarlet helped remove the bandages and casts off Rain. They left the room and Rain used the wind to get dressed, he wore jeans, boots and a plaid shirt with a white t-shirt under, Rain looked in the mirror and smiled despite having the scars on his face. Rain limped out of the room and looked outside the windows to see the wonderful landscape. Rain limped his way to the kitchen to get himself some water, he saw Skarlet cooking and limped to the refrigerator and got himself some water. He looked around the house and saw pictures of Erron and Skarlet together, happy. He smiled at the pictures then walked to the front porch. Erron was sitting there with Kabal and Nightwolf, drinking beers,

“Oh Rain, see you decided to join us, sit on that chair over there.” Rain went and sat down, he used the wind to grab a beer and open it,

“Man the guys will be happy to see you doing good Rain.” Kabal said,

“You all fought well, you guys deserve credit too, Kabal.” 

“Well we didn’t want to get involved since it’s easier for our mental health.”

“Yea Erron turns to a war monger in battle, almost like a man possessed.” Nightwolf said,

“I see...tell me something...have you ever felt heartbroken before?” The other three laughed,

“It’s a common thing Rain, guess you never felt it in a while.” Erron said,

“Look Rain, when I woke up after my coma, I was heartbroken because I lost someone I loved. Due to a coward but then I realized that she was happy now, I couldn’t take that away from her, that’s why I do my own thing now. I roam around, dispensing hardcore justice like a wanderer, in the end of my quest for vengeance I finally was able to be free, to be able to do my own thing again. Don’t get me wrong I was still heartbroken, and I could’ve went back and changed it but after learning from Geras what would happen and realizing I couldn’t change it, I just accepted it and instead dwelling on the past I started living, Rain. Instead of dwelling on someone I love, someone I wanted, I got something I needed.” Erron nodded as he sipped his beer,

“Yep. That advice helped me out with my personal issues.” Erron said, Rain turned to him,

“But you got Skarlet?”

“I needed her Rain, she understood me and I needed to be open with someone, someone who knew me well and cuz of that I was able to let my past rest easy. It wasn’t easy starting again but eventually it worked and we got married, then I just felt in tune with life. Heroes don’t get what they want, Rain, they get what they need.” Rain nodded, he looked down and walked back inside, he saw a piano and began practicing to himself, as a way to ease his mind. That became life for him, he decided to not grow back his ponytail and keep his hair the way it is, Erron promised him that he’ll build a house for him, Rain spent his healing time trying to do things to get Kitana off his mind. It was quite a challenge for him but he eventually let her go, for once he was actually happy to be set free of his past and her in his heart.


	20. One Last Gift

**Chapter 19: One Last Gift**

Erron and Skarlet were getting ready, Erron wore a black suit, black hat and a bolo tie while Skarlet wore a red dress with red heels, meanwhile Rain who was wearing an old army jacket with jeans, Liu Kang’s headband and boots was packing his things, Erron walked in,

“Damn, hate to see you go but at least Kabal doesn’t have to sleep on the couch when he comes here now.” Rain laughed,

“Is Kabal going?”

“Yea everyone is going except for Scorpion.”

“Figures. See you starting to grow a bit of facial hair.”

“Piss off Erron.” He said with a chuckle,

“Rain, come visit us every now and then, we got your back whenever you need it.” Erron said, extending his hand for a handshake, but Rain gives him a hug, Skarlet then joins, making it a group hug. 

“Now come on you two, I’m a bridesmaid and you are a groomsman, I’m trying not to be late.” 

“Right, Rain, open the portal for us a bit far from the venue and we’ll take the Interceptor.” Rain nodded, he got in the back of the Interceptor, Skarlet sat on the passenger side seat and Erron turned on the car. Rain opened the portal and Erron drove through the portal and then drove his way to the venue. 

“I’m gonna sparkport out of here.” Rain said,

“Cool, well, see you soon Rain.” Erron said,

“Thank you both really.”

“Oh no problem Rain, you are a part of the family now.” Skarlet said smiling, Rain sparkported to the upper level of the venue where it was hard for anyone to see him, but not hard to find him,

“Well if it isn’t Rain.” A familiar voice said, he turned around and saw Fujin, he had a bit of a haircut under Raiden’s hat,

“The new protector god Fujin, how’ve you been?” Rain said smiling, 

“Oh the usual, my daughter was born, me and Ayane decided to name her after Raiden, what about you? Glad to see you back on your feet.”

“Better, I have a new place now.” Fujin nodded. Meanwhile, Erron and Skarlet made their way to the back to get ready, Skarlet went to where the brides were, the bridesmaids included Kai, Sindel and Jade. Kitana was sitting there quiet as she got ready, Jade and Sindel took concern to this and approached her,

“Hey Kitana, what’s wrong?” Sindel took a sip of wine,

“Yes darling, be happy, it’s your special day, plus free drinks so there’s no need to mope.” Kitana chuckled,

“I should be happy but...I feel guilty…” Sindel sat by her,

“Oh pish posh darling, it’s just cold feet.”

“Yea, I can smack it out of you.” Jade said chuckling,

“It’s not about Liu Kang...can I be honest with you all for a sec?” Mileena ordered the assistants to step outside, once they were outside, Skarlet closed the door.

“I haven’t been able to sleep for a while now, ever since Fujin told me about Rain and...what he did for me...I just feel so awful...in a way I did that to him, it was because of me he was tortured and beaten by Shao Kahn...I may have not been there but I see it vividly in my nightmares…” Sindel sighed,

“Look darling, one that was Kahn not you, two wherever he is, he’s probably doing better there.” Mileena sighed,

“But why hasn’t he come to see us?” Mileena asked, Kai stepped in,

“Well, think about this, Rain isn’t the same as before, he has his own path to follow, whenever he’s ready he’ll choose to see you guys again.” Kitana nods,

“But I...I miss him…” Mileena said,

“I remember when...when it was just me, Tanya and him, he would always make us laugh and make us happy...I thought when I came back to life he would do that again…” Skarlet wasn’t trying to be awkward so she decided to step in,

“Well time makes people grow older, maybe at one moment he wanted, maybe he wanted to join us here at your wedding. But he’s getting older, he probably feels so lost in life that he wants to try and find himself, all you can do is respect his decisions.” Sindel nodded,

“Yes darling, live your life and respect his.” Kitana and Mileena nodded, they both got up and got ready to go outside. Meanwhile Rain finished his conversation with Fujin,

“Wait Rain.” Fujin took out Rain’s bow, quiver and sword out,

“We’ve been holding on to these for a while, waiting for you to get them but I just decided to bring it to you.” Rain took them and hugged Fujin, Fujin then went back to the ceremony and Rain watched over the balcony, he watched Sindel walk Mileena and Kitana down the aisle and get married to the ones they love. He smiled knowing that they were happy. After the ceremony, the party started, Kitana stepped outside to get some air and refresh her thoughts. She walked to the nearby pond and looked down, she sighed, she never forgot seeing the brutal war that Rain and Liu Kang put themselves through, hearing Rain do the final strike and seeing him crash land through the cliff. Suddenly she felt a small breeze pass by, when she turned around, the only thing that was there was a gift box. Kitana was curious and opened it, she saw what looked like rusty sais, Kobu Jutsus and a handkerchief. She recognized it because she made it herself, she gave this to Rain for his birthday, she also saw a note, it said, 

“I don’t need this anymore, Rain.” She started to cry a bit, Mileena and Jade came outside,

“Aye Kitana it’s time for you and Liu Liu’s dance.” Kitana wiped tears from her eyes,

“He’s here.”

“Who?”

“Rain.” She said smiling, Mileena ran to her,

“Seriously? How do you know?” Kitana pointed at the box. Mileena looked and saw her sais and Tanya’s Kobu Jutsus, she also started crying,

“Alright, alright, wipe the tears c’mon, the grooms are waiting.” Jade said, they did and went back inside. They did their solo dances, but when Mileena was slow dancing with Tanya, she saw something in the upper level, it was Rain, her eyes widened as she saw him, Rain smiled and two finger salute her, he picked up his bag and left, Mileena couldn’t hold it in, she ran like hell outside, confusing all the guests, Tanya ran after her but when she went outside Rain was gone. Meanwhile, Rain teleported to the Fox Island woods, it was the place where Erron made his house, Rain walked through the woods and walked up the mountain with his bag. Rain then eventually made it by sundown, he saw a wonderful plain field with a big house there, two floors, made of wood, a back porch and a balcony too.

“Kabal definitely helped you.” Rain chuckled, he entered and saw Erron got him the bare necessities, couch, table, refrigerator, tv and a bed upstairs, Rain tossed his bag aside and laid down, happy with his new life, 

“How do you like your new cave under my house, Caro?”

“Comfy and soothing.”

“Good good, this life is going to be a good one…” Rain said as he closed his eyes, happy because for once his future is bright.


	21. Letting Go

**Chapter 20: Letting Go**

It’s been a few months since Rain was last seen by the others, he’s been enjoying a quiet life, now has a cat and a golden retriever, simple life. It was snowing one day when Erron came,

“Hey cowboy, what is it?”

“They still wanna see you again Rain.”

“Really now, well I don’t know, it’s going to be kinda awkward.”

“Rain, don’t worry, me and Skarlet will be there and you won’t feel awkward. Besides, if it’s a third wheel thing well Jade and Kung Lao seem fine and they aren’t even dating.”

“Well Jade is Jade, she doesn’t give a shit.”

“Ah gotten used to the cussing now Rain.” Erron said with a smirk, it was probably winter too in Edenia, so Rain got his coat and put some boots on, he also decided to shave before leaving.

“Wait what about Prince?” Erron said pointing at the cat, Rain got his phone out and called Kabal, Kabal then came fast,

“Cat sitting?”

“Yep, I’m taking Gold Experience with me.”

“Cool.” Kabal said dashing to the couch, Erron and Rain left with Gold Experience, Erron turned on his teleporter and left for Edenia which looked different, more people, more trading and a cool breeze. Erron led Rain and GE to the palace, he heard that Liu Kang took leadership alongside Kitana, he wondered what his leadership was like. Erron and Rain made it to the wonderful giant palace on the mountain, once they entered Rain was tackled out of nowhere

“BLOODY HELL!” It was Mileena who was excited to see him again, Mileena then punched him,

“Ah, what the hell?”

“That’s for not visiting.”

“I can see that...please get off me.” Mileena got up and helped him up,

“Hey Mileena.” Rain said with a smile, she smiled widely and hugged him tightly, Tanya came down and punched Rain in the arm,

“Good to see you again, droplet.” 

“Hey Tanya, glad to see you again.”

“Nice hairdo, suits you better than the giant ponytail.”

“Eh I’m trying new things.” Rain and the others walked down the hall, Mileena was petting Gold Experience, she really enjoyed the dog, they saw Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Sindel sitting and drinking wine, Sindel turned around and greeted Rain,

“Rain…good to see you again darling, you look just like your mother.” She said squishing his face,

“And a bit like your father.”

“It’s nice to see you too, please stop squeezing my face.”

“I can’t! You have your mother’s adorable face.” Sindel said, Mileena and Tanya came to pull Sindel off, Kung Lao came by and pat Rain on the back,

“So you're the guy who fucked up Liu Liu?”

“And you’re the guy who got easily beaten by Sub Zero.”

“Low blow.” Rain and him chuckled a bit, Liu Kang then came by,

“I can never thank you enough for freeing me Rain, you are in my debt.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Raiden for always believing in the real you being deep down there.” Liu Kang’s smile slowly faded,

“Don’t feel down, remember it wasn’t you who killed him. Who you were back then won’t be the ultimate judgement in who you are now.” Rain said, Liu Kang nodded and stuck his fist out, Rain smiled and bumped his fist, Rain talked with them and drank a bit of wine, just easing his mind at the fact that he’s accepted by multiple people. Rain then got up and wandered around, he looked at the new palace and then saw Kitana on the balcony,

“Oh...hello.” He said softly, she turned around and smiled,

“It’s good to see you again, Rain.”

“Yea…”

“Come on then, come here and join me.” Rain was a bit nervous but he approached her, Kitana poured him a glass of wine, he took it and sipped some,

“Good year.”

“Yea.” Kitana said, she spun her glass a bit,

“Can...can you show me the scars?” Rain turned to her and rolled up his sleeve showing his scars and burns on his arms, Kitana touched it, she could feel the pain and sadness through the scars, she then started to cry hard,

“I’m...I’m s-so sorry….I did this to you! If it wasn’t because of me you wouldn’t have done that!” She said crying much harder, she just started to break down sobbing, Rain didn’t know what to do so he gave her an awkward hug,

“There, there, it’s not your fault. Kahn did this to me not you.”

“But it was because of me that he did that...please is there anyway I can make this up, maybe set you up on a date or something, anything please, I just feel...I feel so awful.”

“Kitana...scars fade away, these scars are old, they’re with me but faded. I’ve let the past go, I let my pain and nightmares go away. It hurts me to see you like this, you aren’t responsible for my scars.”

“But why don’t you come and see us? It must mean something?!”

“Kitana I have to heal on my own, it’s going to take time but I need to feel healed completely. Besides, I did have feelings for you, it’s going to be awkward around here, I’m going to feel like an odd one out. I can’t do that to myself so I spaced myself away for a bit.” Kitana sniffled a bit, but she hugged Rain tighter,

“I’m...I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize...just live your life, live your life married to Liu Kang, live your life with your family and live your life as the Queen. Have children and pass on your wonderful knowledge to them.”

Kitana nodded,

“Live my life...that’s all I can do.” She said letting go of the hug slowly,

“Yea...that’s all we can do, be happy and live.” Rain said, they both looked at the sunset, happy to accept their new lives and happy to live it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading the three works, expect more MK works further ahead in the future, starting with my version of the MK1-MK3


End file.
